Courting The Jester
by emeraldteardrops
Summary: Set after Between The Lines and Message. Can the Ronins come together before it's too late? Rating changed to M to be on the safe side. Not graphic. Some harsh language and themes.
1. Chapter 1

A/N See, I promised I would be back. This isn't the sequel to Between The Lines. BTL was more of an interlude before this fic. But not the prequel. Confusing but you'll all eventually understand. (grins secretively) I don't own Ronin Warriors, and constructive criticism is always welcome. Hope you like it.

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter One

The first two times that Kento hit the ground, he landed with a loud thump. This time when Kento hit the ground, he slid thirty feet before he came to a blessed stop, headfirst into a large shrubbery. Well, head and neck and shoulders and torso, and everything up to his waist. The unfortunate thing about shrubberies is that they are tenacious creatures, and they don't easily relinquish their prey. So as four heavily armored warriors ambled up to check on their comrade, all they could see was an armored orange rear-end shaking back and forth and occasionally flopping up and down, usually to the accompaniment of loud cursing and muttering.

"Do you think that we should help him?" Ryo asked, blue eyes glinting with amusement, lifting his helmet off of his head and shaking back sweat dampened black hair. Next to him a tall slender warrior in light blue smiled wickedly and shook his head, also removing his own helmet and tucking it under one arm.

"Naw," said Cye, shifting his weight off of his sore right leg. "Let him be. Serves him right for that sucker punch he got in back there."

"He looks like he's enjoying himself," the blonde warrior behind them chuckled, squatting down and resting. Sage too was covered in sweat. They had been working hard today, and for a while now. The sun glinted off his armor and reflected back towards the other Ronin Warriors.

"Yeah, maybe a little too much," Rowen quipped from his spot beside Ryo, leaning on his bow tiredly. But not tired enough that he wasn't going to have a little fun at his comrade's expense.

"You know Kento, flopping around like a fish isn't the best way to make a good impression. Especially not with the face you're presenting to the world." From the shrubbery came a muffled grunt that quite easily could have contained several unpleasant things, directed at all of them.

"What was that?" Rowen asked, cocking an ear towards the shrubbery. "Sorry buddy, it's hard to hear anything around that big old ghetto rear you've got there."

This time the growls coming from the shrubbery were much more audible, definitely contained some unpleasant things, and entirely was directed at Rowen.

"I think you hurt his feelings," Cye grinned at Rowen, watching Kento's butt flop around twice more before wiggling out a foot from the foliage.

"I think he wants a shrubbery," Ryo laughed, feeling pity on his teammate and walking over to grab onto Kento's armored foot. Sage moved to do the same.

"A shrubbery?" Rowen and Cye asked at the same time, Rowen's fake English accent much worse than Cye's real one. Ryo and Sage nodded at each other and both heaved at the same time. With a startled oath, the warrior of Hardrock came flying back out of the shrubbery and landed face first between Ryo and Sage. He spat dirt and leaves out of his mouth and muttered "Thanks" as he gingerly moved to stand up.

"Very funny you guys, very funny," Kento glowered at them all, saving his worst evil eye for the Ronin of Strata. Rowen grinned at him mischievously and Kento half-heartedly lunged for him. Rowen ducked away, but not before getting whapped on the top of his helmet with a hardrock fist. Rowen winced at the thump and then crossed his eyes and looked at Cye.

"He turned me into a newt!" Rowen yelped. Cye started laughing and even Sage cracked a smile. Ryo however stared at Rowen seriously.

"A newt?" he asked, this time in a horrific English accent, much worse than Rowen's. Rowen nodded with an equal severity.

"I got better."

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Kento demanded, removing his armor and donning his undergear, stretching sore muscles painfully.

"We have to civilize Kento," Rowen announced, also stripping his armor. He sighed in relief as the weight came off and he too stretched long arms. "The man doesn't know good comedy when he hears it."

"Hey, buddy all I hear is you talking to Cye about lizards. I don't get the humor in that." Rowen looked at Kento, a serious expression on his face, and walked up to him, peering closely into his eyes. Kento looked up at him in confusion. Suddenly a look of horror crossed Rowen's face and he yelled and jumped back.

"A witch! A witch! Run away! Run away!" Sage sighed and shook his head, walking past the two and resting a hand reassuringly on Kento's shoulder. The warrior looked more confused than ever as the blue haired man jumped around dramatically in front of him.

"I knew that was coming," Sage said softly, a tiny smile on his otherwise solemn face. "Ignore him Kento. He's just a little crazy."

"Just a little?" Ryo joked, checking to make sure the rest of his team were unsuited before he did the same. It was small things like that that set him up as the leader of their little team.

As a group they wandered back in towards the huge house up on the hill, laughing and joking. They were tired, all of them, and they were more than sore. Ever since they had made the decision to don their new armors, an unspoken decision had been made, and they all reported daily to training. The training grounds once again became Mia's back yard, although no one had had the heart to call her and tell her that. White Blaze seemed to enjoy the company, despite the seriousness of the business at hand.

They had grown apart in many ways over the years, and now that they were all back together on a daily basis one could see the effect they had on each other. Ryo was smiling and laughing more, Cye was relaxing slightly, Rowen was enjoying having others that would put up with his crazier behaviors, and even Sage seemed to be enjoying himself. He laughed a little, despite his usual reticence. Often the others would see him having long discussions with Rowen. Sage would politely converse with anyone who came up to him, but talking very much was reserved only for his blue haired friend.

They had never discussed between themselves what had happened the day that they had all put on their armors again, but each had returned with a sense of purpose, and an attitude of getting the job done. They hadn't been that out of shape, but Ryo had wanted them to concentrate on remembering how to fight alongside each other. It was easy to get in each other's way when engaging an enemy and there had been times during the war with Talpa that they had stumbled over themselves, and nearly cost themselves some victories. Teamwork wasn't just getting along.

"Hey has anyone heard from Mia at all?" Cye asked from the front of the group. A chorus of three no's was his response. Cye shook his head.

"Don't you guys think that maybe we should tell her that we've been using her place as Ronin Warrior boot camp?" he ventured. Light blue eyes landed on his leader but Ryo only watched the ground as he walked and remained silent. The question was obviously directed at Ryo, especially since he was the one with the pseudo living arrangements worked out with her, and his silence was louder than words. Still Cye pushed on ahead.

"If something happens and it gets dangerous, her stuff could get trashed. Shouldn't we at least ask her?"

"Mia hasn't been home more than three days in the three months Cye," Ryo suddenly replied sharply. "Do you think that she would even notice if anything happened around here? She couldn't care less about her stuff."

That shut Cye up. He glanced at the other guys, but they obviously weren't going to help him. Finally Cye shrugged, feeling a wave of discomfort come over him. Unconsciously he shifted away from Ryo.

"You're the boss, Ryo," Cye murmured and followed his team into the house.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You're doing what?" a female voice yelped, the owner swinging around in a large leather backed chair and snapping one slim hand down on the huge mahogany desk in front of her. "Who said you could do that?" She demanded angrily. The voice on the other end of the phone buzzed on several moments before the female interrupted, slightly calmer but voice iron hard.

"Well you tell him that that entire project is under my control and has been for two months now, and if he's trying to skim off the top then he can go do it elsewhere. We barely have enough funding as it is." The voice responded and the female sighed, burying her face in one hand in aggravation.

"Of course I know it looks better to have more public figures on the scene, but this isn't exactly the most prestigious research undertaking now is it? We make do with what we have…No, listen. Tell him to back off or I'll make a few phone calls and find out how much of a headache someone in his position can get. Are we clear? Alight. Bye."

"Wow. That is probably the first time I've ever seen Mia Koji be a hard ass." The man sitting across the room adjusted his tie and grinned at the woman in front of him. Mia smiled halfheartedly as she set the phone down. She hated losing her temper, but sometimes when getting involved in politics it took more than being sweet to get heard.

"Yeah? You try living with five teenage boys and an overly curious exotic predator. It'll make you tougher than you could ever imagine."

"Huh?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. Mia smiled, a real smile this time and shook back her long auburn hair.

"Don't ask," she advised. The man nodded and grinned, standing up and walking across the room. He perched on the corner of her desk and looked down at her. Mia fought the urge to stand up so that he wasn't looming over her. Instead she sat back and looked up at him.

"Yes?" she inquired.

"They're right you know. It would look good to have someone a little prestigious to go with you when you return to Japan. Someone that might help bring some notoriety to the project. Raising money for research is all fine and good, and I know you did a lot of great stuff during and right out of college, hon, but your name just isn't big enough. You need someone bigger."

"But who's going to front something like this?" Mia asked the man in the business suit. "How many globally recognized research scientists are going to jump up and say, 'Sure I have nothing better to do than to fly across the world to support a project to enlighten people on a teeny tiny little part of history of Japan that interests a teeny tiny number of people.' That's going to get more laughs than we could count."

"Then axe the project. Go for something more important. It'll make the bosses look more favorably upon you."

"I don't care about that! And it _is_ important!" Mia replied, snapping her pencil down on the desk. "There's so much of our history that shapes our future! And it's all wrapped up in…" Mia trailed off. The man in the suit looked at her again and then rolled his eyes.

"Not that Japanese demon mumbo jumbo again. That almost got you axed after that convention at the UN. As it is they've got you tucked away over here where they think you won't make too much of a fuss." Mia just stared at him and the man gave up and shrugged.

"Suit yourself sweetheart. But you have a bright career ahead of you if you play your cards right. Part of that is knowing when to fold."

"It's important."

"Then find somebody to back you. What about that one American girl? Dark hair, irritable? A little cold?" Mia laughed at the description.

"Who, Nikki? Dr. Vanguard? Oh, I don't think so."

"Why? She's an expert in her field, she designed a lot of the current technology that they're using for dating artifacts found, and she at least likes you. I can't say much for anyone else, though when it comes to her." The man's face scrunched up and Mia bit in another laugh. More than likely Nikki had shot him down, and not very nicely, as she was prone to do.

"I believe she said, to quote, 'hell will freeze over before I go back to Japan.'"

"Hey it's your project. I couldn't care either way." The man stood again and smiled at Mia one more time as he left. Inwardly she sighed. He wasn't too bad as a coworker and friend, but the extended smiles were becoming cloying.

Mia stood and looked out the window. This job had taken her places, had shown her other countries and other ways of life. But deep down she missed her home and the security she used to feel when there. Sometimes it was hard going home to a microwave and a mini-freezer in the latest hotel room.

She was on the out, professionally,and had been for the last year. She'd given her dramatic speech at the UN about how they all had to be prepared for the rising demonic netherworld threat, and when nothing had happened…well…cuckoo was one of the nicer words that they used to describe her these days. But her project was important, and being able to design and carry out research expeditions was why she still had this job. Her good name might be trashed but Mia refused to believe that her work wasn't important. She knew deep down that it was. Things always worked in circles, and she'd felt this all coming for a while now. Any information she could find on the legends of the ronin armors, or these new armors might make or break them. Just because she wasn't around didn't mean she wasn't involved.

"I'll always be involved," Mia whispered sadly, staring at the setting sun. So far from home. But her ideas of home had shifted. She wasn't even sure she had one anymore.

After awhile Mia returned to her desk and sat looking at the phone. She knew Nikki's reasons, but this was important. Bracing herself, Mia picked up the phone. Thirty minutes, two cups of coffee, a Snickers bar, forty-three 'no way in hell's, and one resigned 'fine but you sooo owe me' later, Mia set down the phone contentedly, twirling the cord around her finger. Yes, she would always be involved, and like it or not, she would do her part.

A/N#2 I know it's a little short, but I wanted to get a little bit out for you guys. Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Hello! Probably only one chapter this week since school's pretty hectic. Hope you all like it. If anyone notices grammatical errors or inconsistencies, please let me know and I'll get them fixed right away. If I meant it for a reason, I'll let you know why. Thanks for the support and all the great feedback. I don't own the Ronin Warriors and constructive criticism is always welcome. Oh, and check out Ghost of the Dawn's new message board, Samurai Fanservice. :)

**Courting the Jester**

Chapter Two

Darkness had fallen around the Koji mansion, but upstairs two very different young men remained awake, both for the same reason. The first: cool collected and calm in the face of adversity. The second: fiery and passionate, with the ability to throw amazing witticisms in the blink of an eye. Both had incredible speed and strength and perseverance, and they had shown that no matter what the odds, they could not be thwarted. They would rise above the pain, conquering all evil, ensuring the safety of the mortal realm. But this…this they just could not stand.

SNNNNNNAARRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLLT.

Sage shuddered and pulled his pillow tighter over his head, trying to force as much stuffing as possible inside his ear cavities.

SNNNNNNNAAAAAARRRRRRRLLTSNORTSNORTCCCHK.

Sage mentallywimpered and prayed for the strength to get through this. Across the room, on a small hard bed exactly like Sage's, sprawled a blue haired man. On his back, legs and arms spread crucifix style, jaw slacked, tongue slightly protruding, Rowan drew a deep breath and the blonde haired Ronin braced himself for the upcoming vocal masterpiece that was Rowan's nocturnal specialty.

SNNNNNNNAAAA-BANG!

Sage sat up, startled as the door to their room slammed open. Silhouetted in the doorway was the form of a person, clutching the doorframe for support, staggering like one in pain. A tortured gasp rattled deep in his throat as the figure reached out a desperate hand towards the warrior of light.

"Can't you please make him STOP!" Ryo moaned dramatically. Sage looked seriously at his leader for a long painful moment before he whispered fatalistically,

"No."

"Oh god…"

SNNNNNNNNAAARRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTCCHKK.

Ryo lurched across the room, grabbing a shirt that Rowan had thrown lazily over the back of a desk chair before going to bed. He stretched it between his hands, snapping it tight, a feral look in his eyes.

"I'm going to end this once and for all-" Ryo started to say, looming over the bed crazily. Rowan stopped snoring for a moment and shifted, as if he was subconsciously sensing impending danger. Ryo snapped the shirt tighter and leaned closer, blue eyes glowing in the dark. Suddenly the leader of the Ronins was seized from behind and pulled away from the bed.

"No Ryo, you can't!" Sage said, placing himself in between Ryo and his soundly sleeping friend. "It's not right."

Ryo looked at him coolly. "Watch me. It's very right." He started forward only to be pressed back by Sage again.

"It could be worse. Think about me. I'm IN here with him night after night," Sage argued. "At least you're only in the next room over. There's a wall between you two."

Ryo glowered at Sage, but spoke slowly, as if explaining something to a child.

"Yes, but I can hear him through the wall. So I went down to the living room. I can hear him in the living room. So I went to that little tiny room up in the attic where Mia liked to get away from all of us and have some peace and quiet, but guess what Sage? There was no peace. There was no quiet. There was just-"

SNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAARRRRRRLLLLLLLLLLLLT.

Rowen always did know how to drive a point home. Ryo looked…violent. Sage sighed and turned his sleep-deprived leader around and pushed him by the shoulders.

"Come on Ryo, we're all tired. Thing's will look better in the morning."

"Bite me."

"Good night Ryo."

The slamming door startled Rowan and the blue haired man sleepily rolled over and glared at Sage.

"Hey, man could you keep it down. People are trying to sleep here."

Sage just rolled his eyes and went back to bed. He pulled his blankets around him tight and stuffed his pillow once more over his head. Sage counted to three. Light wheezes. He counted to five. Two gurgles followed by a snort. _Here it comes_, he thought. He counted to seven.

SNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRTTT.

It was going to be a long night.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Ummm, nice place?" Nikki ventured uncertainly.

The short dark haired woman raised an eyebrow at the dubious décor. She'd been confused when Mia had let her into her hotel room. At first she'd thought that Mia had gotten a room for her, which seemed strange since they'd planned to stay together. When she realized that this was where Mia lived now, Nikki didn't know whether to laugh or give her friend another big hug.

Despite her plane had being late, being jetlagged, and the fact that the man sitting next to her had systematically blown his nose and coughed every time she'd just been about to get to sleep, Nikki'd still greeted Mia warmly, hugging her and kissing her cheek happily. They'd laughed and joked about being adults now, and how that was no fun. How Mia was still taller and thinner and that was just not fair. They'd hugged again and been a little more girly than either one of them would later admit to. Then they'd driven back to Mia's place and had ordered a pizza along the way, hoping to beat the delivery guy.

Nikki now looked around and awkwardly set her bag down on the floor, brushing long strands of dark burgundy hair out of her eyes. Mia laughed softly and sat down on the standard reddish-brown "not quite comfortable" hotel comforter on her off-white "not quite comfortable" hotel bed.

"Thanks?"

Simultaneously they both burst out laughing. Nikki plopped down next to her friend and almost fell off the bed as it bounced back with a loud springing noise. Nikki snorted and jumped again.

"Definitely going up in the world Mia. Definitely."

"Be nice," Mia said, swatting Nikki's shoulder. "It's not _that_ bad. Plus it's cheaper than renting a larger place. I travel enough that it's worth it."

Nikki looked serious for a moment, green eyes earnest as she turned to Mia.

"I agree," she said, patting Mia on the knee. "So. How much do they charge you by the hour?"

Mia grabbed a pillow and whomped Nikki over the head with it. Nikki jumped up, laughing, and retreated to the safety of the other side of the room. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she realized that her dress shirt had become untucked and she absently adjusted it. Smoothing her shirt, the short woman turned back to her friend.

Mia didn't look too good to her. Nikki had only seen Mia a couple times in the last few years, and none of those times had been when Mia was home. Nikki knew what too much travel did to a person, how tiring that kind of life was. There were barely perceptible circles under Mia's normally bright eyes. Nikki remembered when it was impossible to look at her friend without being able to see right down inside of her, into her soul. Now when she looked at her, all she could see was determination. Nothing else. Whatever drove Mia, whatever made her "Mia" had been locked up a long time ago. Nikki was still pissed about it, even years later.

"So." Nikki leaned against the oak TV armoire and crossed her arms loosely.

"So," Mia echoed.

"So where's this dig we're going to? I understand how very important it was that I see your beautiful new home, but let's get down to business. You said meet up here and then fly there. So Kenya? Somewhere in Africa? You made it seem far away."

Mia took a deep breath before saying, "Japan."

"Japan. Funny. Ha ha. Now really, where are we going?"

"Japan."

Nikki stared at Mia disbelieving until she realized her friend wasn't joking.

"WHAT? We're going where? I agreed to this under the assurance that we weren't going there!" Nikki's voice started to go a little shrill.

"Nikki, calm down. And I never said that, you just assumed," Mia explained rationally, all the while trying not to fidget with her hands, the way she always did when she was nervous. Nikki knew that habit and would use it against her. She clasped her hands together tightly just in case.

"Calm down?" Nikki sputtered furiously. "Calm down! You drag me half way across the world under the pretense of being a good friend and then you spring this on me! I was very happy, by the way, before you called. I have my own little closet at UCLA with my own little lab and a stack of consulting contracts that are going to make sure I can do anything within reason that I want to do. Which, if you didn't realize before hand, included _never ever ever again going to Japan_!"

At which point Mia had enough. Maybe it was because she was tired and had been for longer than she could remember. Maybe it was because she missed home. Or maybe that fact that when Nikki got wound up, her voice managed to reach octaves that most people never realized existed. Whatever it was, Mia sprang to her feet and glared at her friend.

"Nikki. Shut up." Nikki started at hearing that from her usually sweet friend. Her diatribe paused momentarily, giving Mia the chance she needed.

"Okay listen, I know why you hate Japan. I understand that. If anyone in the world could understand that it's me. But you know just as much as I do that the history of the Ronin warriors is important. And the _purpose_ of this dig is that we found a temple that just might have some clues that might help us all. Us being all of us, the mortal realm, which you are very well aware of. And I need you to make sure that I get proper funding. So I will keep your butt with me until I get everything I need, because I am not going to miss anything that might keep them from getting killed. Them being Ryo, Kento, Sage, Cye, and-"

"Stop Mia, I get the point."

"And Rowen. So get over it Nikki. It was years ago. Plus you know it doesn't matter where either one of us is, we can't ever get away from it. So hiding is pointless."

Nikki glared at Mia angrily and Mia thought for a moment she wasn't going to cave. Finally her friend's shoulders slumped forward and she shook her head.

"I can't believe I'm going to do this."

"It'll be okay," Mia's voice softened as she sat back down. "You won't have to see anyone. We just need to drop by my place really quickly to check up on everything. I never see any of them anyway, only White Blaze every once in a while. He's usually off in the woods most of the time."

"Great," Nikki muttered. Mia couldn't help herself and laughed.

"You can't actually have a grudge against a cat, can you?" she asked with amusement. Nikki just grunted sourly and turned away. At the door came a knock and she stalked over, yanking the door open. An attractively exotic looking man smiled at her and started to say "pizza" when Nikki snatched the box out of his hands and snapped,

"You're late," before slamming the door in his face. There was a pregnant pause before another knock came at the door. Nikki had already turned away, opening the box and grabbing a hot slice.

"It's cold! Go away!" Mia thought she heard cursing in Portuguese on the other side of the door but no more knocks came. Mia started laughing harder as Nikki plopped down next to her and shoved a slice in her hand. Melting cheese burned Mia's finger and she quickly shoved the piece in her mouth.

"You know they don't do the thirty minutes or it's free thing here, don't you? This isn't America," Mia gently reminded Nikki through a mouthful of cheese. Nikki just glowered and finished her slice, grabbing another.

"I don't have to see any of them?" Nikki asked pointedly, wiping sauce from her mouth with the back of her hand.

"None of them. I promise. Then we'll be at the dig, and you won't see anything but dirt and equipment. Maybe you can convince someone to let you get the right stuff and we can start dating the artifacts right away."

Nikki sat quietly for a moment, munching viciously, before her eyes narrowed and she focused on the pizza box in front of her.

"Well we need to get a boron NMR first to make sure that we can analyze the…" Nikki drifted off into technical talk, boring and slightly confusing Mia, but eventually most of the scowl left her face. Yet despite immersing herself in the research both Mia and she loved, at the end of the night Nikki was still less than pleased.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Dammit Ryo, will you stop? That hurts!" Rowen snapped as he once again was pinned on the ground with a heavily armored knee dug deep into the scarcely protected underarm of his armor. Ryo released the pressure but took his time moving off. Rowen stood and brushed himself off, glaring furiously at the Ronin of Wildfire.

"What's wrong with you man?" Rowen spat, wiping a small trickle of blood that seeped from under his left arm. "You _trying_ to kick my ass? Cause if it's like that I'll stop playing nice."

"Like you can do better than that," Ryo muttered and Rowen cussed at him, taking a step forward. Cye and Kento promptly stepped in between them, each pulling one away from the other. Rowen was pissed and Ryo looked like he couldn't care less.

"Gee, that was a good practice, why don't we all call it a day," Kento said in a cheerful voice, shooting Cye a look over his shoulder. Cye rolled his eyes in response, but threw his arm around Rowen's shoulder and half dragging him towards the house. Rowen shook free of the Ronin of Torrent and angrily stalked up the hill. Ryo watched him silently, a tiny speck of regret flicking in his eyes before the sleepy irritated look came back.

"Who's next?" he asked his team. Silence, then,

"Ouch, I think I pulled something-"

"Did you say that you smell burning? I better go check-"

"Umm, that's okay, I think I have a date or something-"

They all started in at the same time, casting around for ways to escape without notice. Ryo shook his head and sheathed his swords.

"Cye, you're fine, Sage nothing's burning, and Kento you can't think of anything better than you have a date?" Ryo raised an eyebrow. Cye managed to blush, Sage looked away, but Kento swung around on Ryo.

"Hey, it's possible! Who says that I can't get girls? Chicks dig the strong silent type." Kento grinned slyly and slicked his hair back.

"That would mean you'd have to shut up at some point," Sage commented dryly. Cye laughed and nodded his head. He moved over to Kento and started to give him a noogie, messing up the hair as much as he could. Kento tried to get away, locking Cye in bear hug.

"Hey little buddy, don't think cause I like you that I'll put up with…" Kento's voice began drifting away into a buzzing sound as suddenly Cye felt light headed. He began to see dark spots and his vision was swimming…

_Swimming…he was in the water, his favorite place to be. The wetness felt cool against his skin after the summer's scorching sun. He rolled over on his back and floated effortlessly, feeling at one with the environment. His environment. He was a creature of the water, no matter how much time he spent on the land. He drifted…_

_He drifted until he could hear voices. Laughing and splashes and a small shriek as a female was dunked under the water. She came up sputtering and laughing at the same time. More splashing and then a male voice. A familiar voice. He knew what this was but he didn't want to see. He didn't want to know. He'd pretended for so long that it wasn't true. Not now…but he drifted closer…_

_Closer…her hand grabbed his and he pulled her into his arms. The watcher tried to close his eyes…closer…their mouths touched…the watcher cried out inside…look away, look away…closer…two figures turned to him…water dripped off wet skin, beading down slender arms…closer…they knew he'd seen…closer…she reached out for him…closer…the watcher fled…_

_One can only flee so fast when they're merely drifting along…drifting…water dripped off wet skin, leaking from closed eyes…drifting…water had been his favorite place to be…drifting…nothing would be the same...Cye! _Cye!

Cye slowly came back to himself, realizing he was lying on the ground, the other three Ronins hovering worriedly over him.

"Cye!" Ryo exclaimed, helping him to sit up. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Cye said softly, rubbing his now throbbing temples. "I was just…drifting…I don't know." Sage knelt by Cye and placed a hand against his forehead. Normally they all welcomed it when Sage would check them to see if they needed healing, but this time Cye jerked back violently, causing Sage to fall back on his heels in surprise.

"No!" Cye snapped, feeling a surge of inexplicable anger at the others. "Sorry, I…just leave me alone." Cye pushed past them and up to his feet, staggering up the hill, ignorant of the confused expressions on Kento and Ryo's faces and the hurt one on Sage's. Aware that practice was definitely over for today, the others slowly walked back up to the house.

A/N #2 Okay, I can hear the questions before they've been asked. Dr. Nikki Vanguard? Who is she? How does she know everyone? How does she know about the RW's? Why does she hate Japan? Why didn't we get two pages of personality and character descriptors? What happened to Cye! (reader wails and shakes their fist furiously, before their eyes narrow) Grrrrrrr……Mary Sue…..lol. Isn't it bad that we've all gotten to the point that any OC makes us suspicious and resentful? Well, flame all you like, but just for the record:

Nikki is not me. I'm a lot nicer than her. Lol

Nikki is not pretty. She's not super skinny with huge breasts. She's Nikki, that's all.

This story isn't about her, but she has to be there eventually and Mia needs some company right now.

I like characters to emerge, not to be thrust upon me, so no long pages of descriptors.

Just trust me, okay:)

P.S. Sorry it took so long, I couldn't log in.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Here you guys go! Longest chapter so far. Hope you like it. I've been a little slow responding to reviews, but I really appreciate any feedback and always keep the suggestions in mind.I don't own Ronin Warriors, and constructive criticism is always welcome. Oh, and I made a small adjustment for clarification in the wording, since my post yesterday. Some people were confused and thought I'd meant that Rowen was gay. He's not in this fic. Just clearing that up.

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter Three

Rowen sat twirling in his chair, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. Above him hung all sorts of gadgets and machines and brightly colored bits of metal. Some were suspended by strings and some were simply plastered to the ceiling. Surrounding him were about ten old desks, shoved together in a haphazardly fashion. One other person was in the room besides him, but that person was standing on the long black counter that ran along the wall. Every once and a while a sharp sizzling noise would cut the silence of the room, followed immediately by a yelp and a few curse words. Rowen balanced an unsharpened pencil on the end of his noise as he turned, trying to find the exact center of balance in it. Every so often he would attempt to toss the pencil up and catch it on it's other end, but thus far had only managed to poke himself in the left eye twice. Which was what he was currently contemplating on; why was it only his left eye that got poked no matter how he tossed the pencil?

"Shit!" cursed the grad student on the counter, jumping back at another snap. In beautiful tandem with the word came a systematic darkening of all but three lights in the room. Rowen stared at the tip of his pencil, wondering if it was humanly possible for his left eye to contain some sort of biological electromagnetism that attracted the metallic end of his pencil, that his right eye lacked. He mused for a moment, then discarded the idea. He figured if such was the case than he would have had problems of the like formerly in his life. It would be hard to miss if metallic objects randomly came flying at the left side of his face…unless he had become accustomed to it? Hmmm…

"Rowen, man what are you doing over there?" complained Jay, shaking his hands to ease the pain in them from repeated electric shocks. "Can't you at least pretend to be helping with this? The Doc said for both of us to fix it. Both, meaning you too."

Rowen grunted and twirled one more time.

"You seem to be doing a perfectly fine job all by yourself," Rowen encouraged. "I don't think I could do any better."

"Of course you could do better, you're the prodigal child, remember? But along with the ability and the intelligence and the grasp of quantum physics that I or anyone else on Doc's research team will never possess, you contain a potential for laziness that's never been seen before."

"You've obviously never seen a white tiger at a Sunday afternoon picnic," Rowen replied. Jay shook his head at the blue haired man, sitting down on the counter and looking glumly at the dimly lit room.

"Ummm, no, don't think I have." Jay groaned and leaned back against the wall. "It's all her fault, you know," he muttered. Rowen looked over at him, slightly confused.

"Her?" Rowen asked.

"Yep. _Her_. Before I had all the concentration in the world and rewiring these lights would've been a cinch. But now every time I try to focus on something, all I see is _her_ and I keep messing up." The way Jay kept saying "her" wasn't exactly pleasant.

"Trouble in paradise?" Rowen asked, despite himself. He usually tried his best not to get involved in other people's problems, romantic or otherwise. But Jay _had_ been doing all the work so far while Rowen hadn't lifted a finger so it was only fair to listen to him.

Jay groaned again and closed his eyes before responding.

"She's just such a wench. I mean, I love her, don't get me wrong, but…argh! She makes me want to shake her! She's so cute and sweet and little and then out of nowhere BAM! I never thought that someone that small could yell that _loud_. And it's not like I even did anything!"

"Trust me man, we always have done _something_. We just never know what it is until they tell us."

"No kidding! Except I didn't do anything, I swear," Jay repeated vehemently.

"Did you cheat on her?"

"No."

"Lie to her?"

"No."

"Did you talk to any old girlfriends? They hate that."

"No. Well…it's not like the girl counted. I mean it was only one night, and that was a long time ago. And Amy and me weren't even together then. We'd split up the week before."

Rowen started to laugh. "It doesn't matter how long ago it was, man. If your girl knows then that's reason enough to be upset."

"No it's not," Jay gave Rowen a dirty look. Rowen lifted his hands placatingly.

"Hey, I agree with you," Rowen soothed him, "but girls are different. Their ideas of what's appropriate when being on a break and ours are different. What, did she catch you talking to the other one?"

"No, she caught us having lunch."

"Did you tell her first?" Rowen pressed.

"No," Jay admitted sheepishly. "Probably a bad idea, that one."

Rowen laughed again and leaned back, finally not twirling his chair any longer. He was starting to get dizzy.

"There you have it. Self made misery. Not quite yet "Dr." Hashiba recommends lots of sucking up."

"Thanks," Jay replied dryly. The other grad student brushed off his hands and stood up again, peering up at the ancient lighting above him. If only they would just build another building for the growing science department there, instead of sticking everyone in every little nook and cranny they could find. Then maybe they could actually have stuff that worked without being tinkered with.

"Hey, Rowen," Jay asked after a moment of poking at wires. "You're not dating anyone are you?"

"Nope. Why? Amy looking for someone else?"

Rowen ducked the screwdriver that came flying at his head. Towards the _left _side of his head. Hmmm.

"No jackass. I was just thinking about the fact that I never really see you with any girls. I mean, I see you flirt now and then, but I don't see you ever _with_ anyone."

"So what?" Rowen asked, rolling his pencil down his arm, eyes half closed in the dim light. He looked about ready to fall asleep.

"So why? It's not like you couldn't get any girls. You might be butt ugly with freakish blue hair but the brains would go a long way with lots of chicks."

"Be nice," Rowen murmured, rotating his arm underneath the moving pencil. Jay shot him a grin, but his eyes narrowed.

"So what's your deal? Why the life of solitude? Even the most irritating girl can have some, ummm, positive qualities." Rowen shook his head at what the other was implying, but kept his focus on the task at hand. He switched his pencil to his left arm without losing momentum.

"Not my deal, man," Rowen said quietly.

Silence, then, "Someone pulled one over on you good, huh?"

Rowen froze and the pencil hung balanced on his wrist. He said nothing in reply.

"So who was she?" Jay pushed, head disappearing into ceiling, muffling his voice. His head popped back out, a black smudge on his forehead. "Undergrad? High school? Some piece of tail gone wrong?"

Rowen continued to say nothing. His eyes focused on the back of the room, into the dark corners. Jay continued to talk.

"Some get too attached. That's a good reason to be careful. Plus, you never know what's floating around these days on some of these chicks…"

Jay was interrupted by Rowen climbing up on the counter next to him. Rowen pushed around him, disappearing inside the ceiling up to his armpits. Jay heard a clunk, then another. Suddenly the room was flooded with light. Rowen dropped out of the ceiling and jumped off the counter, Jay staring incredulously at him.

Rowen grabbed up his pencil and headed out the door. Jay's voice stopped him.

"Sorry man, if I was pushing too far."

Rowen paused in the doorway and stood looking out for a moment. Suddenly he turned and looked intently at the other man. Jay almost stepped back from that expression.

"Do you love her?" Rowen demanded quietly.

"Yeah," Jay stuttered, "yeah I guess so."

"Then thank your lucky stars she puts up with you." Rowen said, voice thick. "Lots of them ditch when things get tough. Don't give her a reason to."

"Yeah, okay," Jay replied uncertainly. He'd never seen this side of Rowen before. Not that any of them at the university really did. Rowen nodded and turned away.

"Sorry to bring up bad stuff," Jay murmured, but Rowen was already gone. Jay looked irritably at the now perfectly working lights and sighed at the wasted time. Shaking his head yet once more, he climbed down and gathered his stuff to go. As he flipped off the lights, Jay thought about the blue haired man's words. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Amy's number, before locking the door and going off to the rest of his normal life.

---------------------------

Rowen stomped across campus to his car, irritated beyond all belief at the guy he'd just left. Rowen's personal life was his own, and he didn't appreciate someone trying to dig into it.

"What personal life?" Rowen muttered at himself, yanking open his car door, noticing that he'd once again forgotten to lock it. Rowen scowled even more and flopped into the driver's seat. Sage kept telling him that he'd get it stolen one of these days, but the deplorable condition of the vehicle was a second security system. That in itself made Rowen even more mad, and he was cursing under his breath by the time he managed to get the ancient thing started.

He was late, he'd promised Ryo that he'd be at Mia's by now, and it would take him at least an hour to get there. Maybe forty-five minutes if he hurried. Rowen pulled out of the parking lot, realizing that his jaw was aching. Which was easily explained by how he had his teeth gritted ever since he'd left the office. His temples were starting to throb.

Jay had really gotten to him with that conversation. Who cared what Rowen's love life was like, who's business was it anyways. It wasn't like he didn't have the opportunity to date; it wasn't that he was an unattractive loser. So what if he chose not to go sleeping around, which he was pretty sure Jay had done. So what? What would it get him? It wasn't as if lots of mindless sex had ever appealed to him. It wasn't as if it had ever done him any good.

"_Glad to know I'm just a piece of ass to you!"_

"_You're the one that started this!"_

The sudden words sprang up in Rowen's mind but he couldn't place them or who had said them. Dark mood going even darker, Rowen gripped the steering wheel and accelerated down the road. Ryo was going to be pissed and had been pretty touchy lately. Not that Ryo wasn't always touchy anymore. He used to be somewhat easygoing, Rowen didn't know when that all had changed.

"_What's wrong with you! Why are you acting like this! It's that armor, I told you-"_

"_Shut up! Just…just leave me alone! You don't even know what you're talking about!"_

Rowen didn't know why he'd thought that either. He ground his teeth even more, hearing them squeak. Rowen's mind was racing. He could feel his pulse in his temples, signaling a bad headache coming on. He was so angry with Jay. His life was his own; his choices were his own. If she didn't want to be a part of it then that was her choice, her loss. Her? Who was he even thinking of? When had he ever had a relationship anyways? He'd always been running solo. Sage used to tease him about it. But then Sage stopped…

"_Stop it! Stop it, you're hurting him! Stop it! You guys are friends! This isn't right!"_

"_Friends don't do this…friends…They don't do THIS!" _

"_Oh god, he's killing him! Stop!"_

"Stop it," Rowen muttered, shaking his head. His temples pounded. What was he thinking about? His mind always thought too fast, but this time was different. It was like stuff he should know but didn't. Rowen had always been one of those people who could get lost in their own thoughts for hours, not even realizing that he was thinking the things he was thinking. But this was like remembering stuff he didn't know. Stuff he used to know?

"_You knew this is wrong! You knew! And you never even once tried to stop it!_

"_I can't fix this! None of us can!"_

"_What the hell!"_

"What the hell?" Rowen gasped, vision blurring. He let off the accelerator as a car blared their horn behind him. Rowen realized he'd drifted into another lane and quickly jerked the car back in line. He must be getting sick. He didn't understand. He could ask the guys. Sage or Cye…

"_Oh god, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"_

"_Pick one! Pick or they both die!"_

Death, dying, why was he thinking of this? Who…what? He couldn't…

"_I can't! I CAN'T!"_

"…_I can…"_

"_NO!"_

A sharp snap sang through his head, like whiplash. With a startled cry, Rowen jerked back into his seat, pain ripping through his forehead. He slowed even more and pulled off on the side of the road. Another snap and…

"_Bring her."_

"_You can't have her! Over my dead body!"_

"_That can be easily arranged."_

"_We'll stop you! You can't fight us all!"_

"_Silly child, what makes you think there's anyone but you left?"_

Snap!

"_What did they do to you? Please, I want to help you."_

"_Don't look at me…"_

"_Please-"_

"_DON'T LOOK AT ME!" _

Snap!

"_I love you…"_

"_But?"_

"_But it's not enough to stop this."_

"_No don't! We can get through this!"_

"_We've already lost…"_

"_No!"_

"_It's too late…" _

"It's too late. It's too late. It's too late."

Rowen realized he was shaking, clutching the steering wheel for dear life, rocking back and forth. He had been whispering. Whispering what? It was too late for what? What was happening? He was drenched in sweat and his temples throbbed like he had a migraine. He sat that way for almost ten minutes before the tremors subsided. Rowen didn't really know what had just happened. The pain increased…

He had always wanted to know. He had always needed to know. Knowledge was his gift. The fight for control of it was his weakness. Let go. The armor had told him to let go.

"How do you let go of something you don't understand?" Rowen asked the empty car. The car didn't respond. Rowen hadn't really expected it to.

_Let go. _

"How?" Rowen whispered to himself.

_Let go. You already know. Many things have been forgotten. The knowledge comes with control. Control comes with letting go._

He was aware that he was having a conversation with his head. He was aware that normallyhe would spend a great deal of time trying to figure that out. Sage would have just accepted it, which was why Rowen had always thought he was better with all this psychic mumbo jumbo. The pain hit a point where he felt like his head would split apart.

_Let go_.

The pain started to spread down his neck and shoulders and into his back. Rowen dimly thought that the psychic version of himself was pretty pushy, but he took a deep breath.

"How do I do what you…me…whoever you are, want me to do?" Rowen asked, knowing how bizarre this all was.

_You already know how._

_You've done this before._

_You know…_

"Know what?" Rowen whispered as pain overtook his entire body, and he started to black out.

_What they did… _

----------------------------------------

"Anyone know where Rowen's at?"

Ryo got a chorus of grunts in response. Ryo sighed and looked at his men. They looked tired, all of them, and Cye seemed especially strained. He was standing apart from everyone like he was uncomfortable being there. It was weird behavior, but consistent since Cye had passed out. Ryo hadn't talked to Cye about it, since Cye had been making it clear that he wanted to be left alone. Ryo had expected the Ronin of Torrent to go home, and only come back for their practices, but Cye had stayed. Whatever was going on with him, he at least was sticking to the security of the group. Ryo knew that Cye was worried about them being separated and attacked like when Suzunagi had appeared. At least he had been a couple weeks ago. Now it was hard to tell exactly what Cye was thinking.

"Well, we start without him," Ryo stated. The others nodded, content to follow his lead. Ryo had never truly liked the position that he was in when it came to them; he had never really felt like he deserved to be their leader. But that was how they viewed him, and Ryo had never wanted to let the guys down. He also figured that if he sucked at it enough, they would demote him and find someone else. That thought was oddly comforting. Maybe he could mess things up enough…

"You're fine Ryo, let's just go work, okay?" Cye said suddenly, voice tight and distracted. He didn't even seem to notice that he'd spoken without Ryo saying anything. Ryo's eyes widened momentarily and he exchanged a look with Sage and Kento, but he quickly smoothed his face. He smiled at Cye, hoping to project feelings of support. Cye looked plenty frazzled and Ryo was starting to really worry about him.

"Okay, Cye. No problem."

White Blaze suddenly came bounding over to them, pausing briefly to brush up against Cye before moving to Ryo. Ryo reached down to run his fingers into the long soft coat, but the tiger moved away and flicked his tail.

"What is it boy?" Kento asked, "Is something wrong?"

White Blaze just growled deep in his throat and looked off towards the east, where the road approached Mia's house. They all exchanged a look and were immediately in their undergear. White Blaze's warnings were obvious and always correct.

"What's up?" Ryo asked his tiger, looking in the same direction. White Blaze continued to growl. Sage looked around, starting to get a weird feeling. The skin on the back of his neck crawled, and he felt like someone was watching him.

"Hey guys?" he said, "I think we've got company."

"You mean the big bad has finally decided to show up?" Kento said loudly, making a fist. "About time, what took you so long?" he shouted at the surrounding trees. He was about to shout something else when suddenly Cye went pale and staggered next to him. Kento reached for his arm, but Cye yanked away, falling to his knees and retching the small amount of food he'd been able to eat that day.

"Cye!" Ryo cried, leaning down next to his friend. "What's the matter?" Ryo laid an arm on Cye's back and for the first time in a while, the Ronin of Torrent leaned into him, getting as much contact as he could.

"It's so…" Cye gasped, body shaking as he dry heaved once more. He wiped his mouth and stared out in the same direction White Blaze was still growling in. "It's so _wrong_!"

"Well whatever it is, come out and fight us!" Kento yelled, shaking his fight challengingly. "We're ready for you!"

"No!" both Cye and Sage yelled simultaneously, and both staggered as if hit by something. Only Ryo's arm around Cye kept him from being thrown to the ground, and Ryo's arm stung from the sudden force exerted on it. Sage had fared worse and was thrown to one knee. Ryo looked at the blonde warrior and went deadly still. Sage looked…afraid.

"To arms, guys!" Ryo yelled, pushing up to his feet and jumping to a place that positioned him in between and slightly in front of both Sage and Cye. He grabbed at the armor orb in his pocket, closing his hand tightly around it. He could see Kento following suit. He closed his eyes and waited to feel the metal strapping itself around his body.

Nothing happened.

Ryo's eyes widened with surprise and he looked quickly at the others. Kento looked as surprised as he felt. Neither Cye nor Sage had made any move to put on their armors.

"What the hell?" Kento gasped.

"It won't help," Cye whispered, terror in his large sea-blue eyes. He dug his fingers into the ground underneath him, staring in horror at something Ryo couldn't see. Sage just remained fixed in a half-kneeling position, face drained of all color. Ryo could see him clutching at his kanji orb but not calling his armor. Then suddenly Ryo understood. A wave of pain and suffering and terror hit him like a wall; a dirtiness that sank into his bones and a vileness that made his stomach turn.

"Well looky here. A one, a two, a three, a four. A child, a bastard, an orphan, a whore. But where is the fifth? Didn't he want to come with? I do prefer to fight more."

"Was that supposed to make sense?" Ryo shouted at the voice that drifted around them, fighting the overwhelming urge to vomit.

"Shall I make it more simple for you, Ryo of the Wildfire?" the voice taunted, shifting from the east to the west to the north. Ryo kept jerking around to find where it was coming from. He heard Kento throwing up behind him. He didn't blame him.

"How about this, and please try to keep up. I kill in odd numbers, and you're missing one. I like what I like, it's how I have fun. Strata is missing, which tears at my heart. And I planning on eating yours so…be a dear and go fetch him for me."

"Is this sick bastard trying to rhyme?" Kento gasped, also casting around for an enemy to fight. "Cause he's doing a pretty bad job at it."

"Come now, is that a nice thing to say? You were raised so polite, child, what would your mother say?"

"He did _not_ just bring up my mother!" Kento snarled. "Armor of Hardrock!"

Again nothing happened. White Blaze had lowered himself to the ground and was growling in every direction, snapping his tail back and forth.

"Very well, I see. You are incapable of giving even a decent account of yourselves without the fifth. Of course you should have remembered that…Oh wait! You wouldn't have remembered that. How foolish of me. Well, thanks for the reunion little ones. Don't forget me in your dreams."

"Sick," Ryo murmured, just as the wave of vileness swept back to where it came from. Still the voice rang out.

"Oh, and little ones? Here's something to _remember_ me by."

The ground tore apart. The sky ripped in half. All noise turned to a glass-breaking shriek. For one split second, one blessed relief, all existence stopped.

And then the world exploded.

----------------------------------

"Where is this place Mia? I thought you used to live a lot closer to town."

"Stop griping Nikki, we'll be there soon enough," Mia admonished her passenger. Nikki looked over at her and stuck out her tongue. Mia laughed and swatted her arm.

"You're acting like Yuli, now," Mia said. Nikki rolled her eyes and gave Mia a dirty look.

"That was just plain mean, Mia. After all I've done for you."

"All you've done Nikki is complain. But don't worry, when we get home I'll make us both something to eat and everything will seem better."

"You know that only worked on the guys, right?" Nikki asked her friend wryly. Mia had the grace to blush and laughed at herself.

"Well it was worth a shot. Plus, I _am_ hungry. Not that I have much to eat there, but there's got to be something."

"Wow this traffic is really bad for being outside the city," Nikki commented. "Do you think there's an accident up ahead?"

"I don't know but-"

The world exploded.

Mia screamed as suddenly the rental car was lifted off of its tires and smashed into the vehicle to their left. All she heard was creaking steel and shattering glass. Nikki never made a noise as her side of the car was crunched in. Mia saw a splatter of blood on the windshield, and calmly realized in some disconnected part of her mind that her friend was probably dead, and that their car was being spun in the other direction. She calmly saw the cars previously behind them trying to stop, and she even saw the look of terror on the truck driver's face as he barreled down on them. Then there was a crashing noise and a bright flashing light and everything went dark.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Hello everyone. I hope you all are proud of me, I chose to write another chapter instead of study for my finals. :) Warning on this chapter. It's transitional and necessary, even if it lacks a lot of action. It needs to be there. **Also there's some language and suggestive phrases so if that offends anyone, please don't read**. To be on the safe side, I'm changing the rating to M. I don't own Ronin Warriors and constructive criticism is always welcome (readers chant the standard phrase along with me).

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter Four

_He was waiting on the stairs when she finally walked through the front door. It had been raining all night and her long dark hair was drenched, clinging to her back appealingly. He failed to notice that however. She hadn't seen him yet, and she moved slowly across the floor, pulling off her jacket. She was walking like she was slightly in pain; he didn't fail to notice _that_. She shook her head, pushing dark strands back from her face. The dark room hid her features, but he could feel her from where he sat. He could _feel_ her; he had _felt_ her all night. He had felt everything. Maybe that was why he was shaking when she finally turned to come up the stairs._

"_Have fun?"_

_The harsh voice in the dark startled her and she jumped. Then her eyes narrowed and she glared at the man sitting before her. _

"_Let me through. I'm tired."_

"_I'm sure you are." His voice taunted her cruelly. She flushed despite herself, anger reddening her cheeks even further. _

"_What I do is my own concern," she said sharply, moving to step around him. "You're no one to judge."_

"_No?'_

"_No." She took a step past him, surprised that he had let her pass with this little of a fight. Mentally she sighed. It had been a trying night, and all she wanted to do was retreat to the comfort of her own bed. These last several days had been rough, and with all likelihood the next were going to get rougher still. There was so much they had to do, so much that they had to face…A rough hand gripped her arm and stopped her, fingers clamping down like steel._

"_True, what you do is your own concern. God forbid that you ever take anyone else's feelings into account. God forbid that you show one tiny ounce of compassion for anyone or anything that isn't yourself!" His voice rose angrily as she tried to yank out of his grip. _

"_Get off me! You have no idea, you have no clue why I do the things I do!" she snarled back, trying to keep her voice down so that they didn't wake the others. The last thing she needed was all of them seeing this and asking questions._

"_You're right, I don't know you," he replied contemptuously. "All I know is that I've been up all fucking night because someone decided that they wanted roll over and play whore!" _

_A hand hit his face with a resonating smack but he seemed oblivious to it, dragging her closer and looming over her, fury in his eyes._

"_Did it ever occur to you that I could feel everything you did tonight? Huh? That I woke up from a dead sleep to feel _that_! Not to mention I had no clue where you were or how to find you! Just that you were somewhere-"_

_She interrupted him by pushing at him as hard as she could._

"_And that's MY fault? It's my fault that we're connected like that?" she yelled, unaware that her voice was getting louder with each word. "I never asked for this, you just did it! Against my will! So if you're finding out things that you don't like now, then blame yourself, you jerk. What you did was worse, so much worse than what you think I did tonight."_

"_Worse?" he roared in reply. "What worse then knowing play by play how your girl is screwing you over-"_

"_I'm not your girl! Get it through your head! You lost that chance, and I'm not sure that you even wanted to be with me! Not like that. You just wanted what you couldn't have. And when this is over, if we actually make it through, then I'm gone. I'm getting out of this nightmare, and there's nothing you can do about it!"_

"_Fine," he said softly, releasing her arm with a little push. She stumbled back, reaching for the wall to regain her balance. He never moved to steady her. _

"_No problem." His voice was once again contemptuous, as if speaking to dirt. "When this is over I'll put you on the plane myself."_

_She stood there for a moment glaring at him, before she turned and started up the stairs. Behind her she heard him mutter under his breath._

"_Hope it was worth it."_

_She paused at the top of the steps and hung her head, gripping the banister tightly. She almost turned around but then stopped, shaking her head. She topped the stairs and turned the corner to find another figure standing in the hall, arms crossed, leaning against the wall. She waited, readying herself for the next onslaught. The figure said nothing for a moment, just looking at her with those piercing eyes. Then he stepped forward and uncharacteristically placed a hand on her shoulder. _

"_It isn't what he thinks, is it?" he asked gently. She almost softened, almost leaned into his hand for support. This was so hard. Then her resolve hardened and she stepped away._

"_Of course it is," she said harshly, moving past and down the hall to her bedroom. He watched her until her door closed. It was only after it shut that he murmured aloud. _

"_No Nikki, you wouldn't do that to him. So what _are_ you doing?" _

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Nikki…Nikki, what are you doing?" the voice teased at her conscience.

"Huh?"

"What are you doing?" it pressed, whispering around her, brushing her face.

"Pretending that I didn't just get in a car crash."

"Why, little one?" Phantom fingertips touched her cheek tenderly.

"Because if I acknowledge it, it will hurt."

"It's supposed to hurt, little one, that's the fun."

"Fun?"

"Fun…pain's fun. It tastes good." The voice chuckled at the joke, fingers brushing down her neck. Her conscience tried to pull away. She didn't understand, but knew she was in terrible danger. _Familiar_ danger.

"Wha...what?"

"I missed you…yours always tasted the best…"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nikki woke up screaming, jerking and flailing. Something held her down and she fought hysterically against it. She heard a voice weakly saying her name, but it didn't register in her mind. She felt invisible hands brush her neck and she clawed at them, fingernails tearing her own flesh in her frenzy. Then a sharp slap stung her face and her vision blurred.

"Nikki! Calm down!" A voice said, much louder and commanding in her ears. Nikki recognized the voice and stilled, opening her eyes wider and looking around. Next to her Mia stood…upside down?

"Nikki, relax okay? I'm going to get you out of here," upside down Mia assured her. Nikki decided not to question why her friend chose to stand like that, or even how it was possible. Who was she to criticize?

"Ugggghhhh," Nikki groaned, shifting and feeling the muscles along her back and legs protest. "What happened?"

Mia face was in Nikki's briefly and then disappeared again, but her voice was clearly legible.

"We got in a car accident, and the car flipped over. You're stuck in the seat because of your seat belt and it won't come lose. I have to find something to cut it with. Don't worry I'll have you out in a second."

Even in her current state Nikki wasn't dumb. She looked quizzically at the direction of Mia's voice, or a quizzical as she could manage hanging upside down with a small trickle of blood running down...well technically "up" her face and into her nose. She snorted, a small burbly snort, which succeeded in not clearing the blood out of her nose. She sighed and decided to concentrate on other more productive things.

"Umm, just a question here," Nikki ventured. "But isn't it normal procedure in a car accident to leave the person that's been hurt alone until, say, the ambulance shows up? Just in case they broke their back or something? Just to be on the safe side?"

There was a grunt and the sound of broken glass falling down behind her.

"Sorry Nik…There's no ambulance. I'll explain later." Nikki thought about this than decided that she wasn't okay with the decision.

"That's okay Mia. I think I'll just wait for the ambulance."

"There's not one coming," Mia said softly, her voice extra calm. "I tried my phone but it's not working." Nikki knew that voice. It was the voice Mia used when she was especially worried. Nikki decided then and there that she needed to be out of the car right _now_.

"Mia, hurry," she muttered, the muscles in her legs hurting even more. Nikki realized that the car had scrunched up enough to have her half bent over, explaining the pain. Mia made a couple more clunking noises and then a sigh of relief.

"Found it," Mia said, returning to Nikki's line of sight, this time holding a small red utility knife. It was the kind that has little nail clippers, a tiny nail file, an itsy bitsy corkscrew, and one barely existent blade. Nikki sighed again. Mia to the rescue. Where was Ryo with his huge swords when you needed him? Well, maybe not Ryo. He tended to work with more power than finesse with those things. Sage might be more the one to take care of her problem. Of course he'd probably keep one of those blonde eyebrows raised in haughty amusement while he helped her, which had always bugged the crap out of her…

"Ouch!" Nikki yelped as the seat belt gave out under Mia's knife and she slid half out of it. "Be nice! I might have some serious injuries here," she grumbled.

Mia said nothing but did wrap her arms around her friend and helped to pull her painfully out of the car. On the last tug, Nikki came free and they both ended up sprawled in the grassy ditch the car had flipped over into. Nikki shook her head, feeling extremely light headed now that she was right side up. Staring at the still spinning wheels didn't help. Next to her, a dirty and scratched up Mia slowly rose to her feet, staring at the other side of the car. Personally Nikki didn't want to look. No one had been helping them, and there had been a huge amount of traffic at the time of the accident. It was going to be a horror on the other side of their car; there were going to be people hurt very badly. She'd never liked to see blood, and she wasn't about to start now. But…it was bizarrely quiet and Mia was simply standing there, not helping others in need, which wasn't like her. Carefully and hesitantly Nikki climbed to her feet. Once again her vision swum, and she grabbed onto her friend for support. Her eyes cleared and she turned to what Mia was staring at.

"Oh shit."

While Mia had never been one for cursing, she had to admit that the words were perfect. Nikki's jaw dropped, fingers digging into Mia's arm. It hurt but she didn't care. Pain reminded Mia that she was still alive despite…despite _this_.

There was no one there. No cars. No trucks. No ambulances, no fire trucks, no police cars, nothing. Just an empty road and their overturned car.

"Shit."

Mia agreed again. After a heady silence, Nikki turned to her. Mia saw that the girl's face was half covered in drying blood from a nasty cut on her head. There were also deep gouges at her neck where she had attacked herself. Mia wondered if she looked as bad.

"Okay. So. We're in Japan. We get in a car accident. If anyone hit us, then they definitely didn't stick around to help out. But logic says that there should be glass on the road, at least from our car, but there isn't. And your phone's not working. Did I cover everything?"

"Yes," Mia whispered softly. Nikki nodded calmly. Then she screamed at the top of her lungs. For the third time in a matter of moments, Mia agreed wholeheartedly.

It took her a while before she stopped.

"Are you done?" Mia asked. Nikki nodded. "Good. Because we have to get to my house."

"We _are_ throwing out the idea that this was a normal accident, right?" Nikki asked for clarification. Mia just grunted as she grabbed what she could of her belongings from the trashed car. She was amazed they'd gotten out of there with only the small injuries they had.

"Just checking, you know. Remember you're the expert on these things. I'm just the nice hapless girl who gets drug into the situation because of her unfortunate taste in friends."

"Who ever said you're nice?"

"Bite me." At that the old Nikki came out and Mia couldn't help crack a smile. The girl had been in a little bit of shock after the accident. Understandably. Mia wondered if she herself still was in shock too.

Mia looked around and tried to get her bearings. They were out in the country, but not too horribly far from where she lived. It would be closer to try to walk there then to try to walk back to the city. There wasn't really any gas stations to stop at between here and home, so she figured they didn't have much of a choice.

"We're walking, aren't we?" Nikki asked glumly. Mia nodded and handed her what she'd been able to gather of Nikki's things. Most of their clothes were in the smashed down and impenetrable trunk so they didn't have much to carry.

"Hey Mia?"

"Yes?"

"I told you I hate Japan right?"

"Yes. Several times."

"Just making sure."

They chose not to talk about the accident as they walked slowly off, both limping. Each woman silently figured that sometimes it's better to pretend that you don't know that the world is about to go to hell all over again.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So…" Ryo ventured uncertainly from his seat at the bay window. White Blaze lay curled up at his feet and the Ronin of Wildfire absently stroked his fur. The tiger purred but kept watchful eyes on the room.

"So," Cye echoed his leader. Sage looked at both of them silently, arms crossed from where he leaned against the doorframe. It was the one sitting on the couch, systematically ripping apart a Pringles can, who was eloquent enough to put their emotions into words.

"So is everyone aware that we got our asses kicked by a _voice_ back there?" Kento said suddenly. The others groaned at the tactlessness of it but the Ronin of Hardrock continued obliviously, stripping the can of the happily smiling cardboard face.

"I mean, we didn't just get our asses kicked, we got them handed right back to us. Cye couldn't stop throwing up. Sage just sat there like a lump out of water. I couldn't use my kanji orb to do _anything_, and even Ryo didn't lift a finger."

Cye cleared his throat uncomfortably, but Sage stared at Kento with unusual irritation.

"What do you mean "a lump out of water"? That's not even an analogy Kento!"

"Whoa, calm down man, that wasn't a personal attack. We all sucked. And lets see how good at analogies you are when you wake up at the top of a fifty-foot tree. And then fall."

"I did catch you," Cye reminded Kento mildly. Kento rolled his eyes.

"Sure Cye. Landing on you counts as being caught."

"Well at least you didn't wake up to someone smashing you!" Cye retorted angrily. Ryo continued to sit silently.

"Quit it guys, this isn't helping," Sage interceded, agitation apparent to those that knew him. "We have bigger things to worry about."

"Like what Sage?" Kento snorted, finishing off the can with one last mighty rip. "It seems to me that being helpless in the face of a new and twisted enemy might be at the top of the list. He wants to eat our hearts? Sick! At least Talpa only wanted us for our armors. This guy wants us for our bodies!"

"Kento, no one wants you for your body," Cye retorted almost absently. Kento responded by flicking the plastic top of the can at him with deadly accuracy, catching Cye right across the bridge of the nose. Cye jerked back and cursed, rubbing his nose and glaring at Kento. Sage looked about ready to start chewing everyone out when Ryo quietly spoke up.

"Sage means that we have no idea where Rowen is and if he's okay. I can't feel him, can you Sage?" Ryo asked. The warrior of Halo remained stiff for a moment, then seemed to wilt as he shook his head no. That made Cye and Kento look up in surprise. Sage could _always_ feel Rowen. Rowen could always feel Sage; it was part of their close friendship. Each Ronin had a general idea of where each other was and what they were doing, but Sage and Rowen had taken it to the next level. If Sage couldn't feel Rowen…

"We need to find him," Ryo stated. Cye shook his head.

"Anyone notice that Rowen always disappears right when things get rough?" Cye grumped, earning himself a cold look from Sage. Cye just shrugged.

"Where was he when we got attacked?" Ryo asked.

"Probably at the university," Sage replied, looking at the floor. "He usually hangs out there until he comes for practice."

"We should probably check there first." Ryo decided. "I don't want to split everyone up this time. It's safer if we all-"

A slamming door across the house made them all suddenly start. Voices followed immediately.

"What the heck happened to your house? It looks like it got hit by a tidal wave."

"More like a shock wave. If I find out Rowen's been practicing again outside again I'll…" The voice trailed off as two women stepped through the door and saw the four Ronins standing there, white and colored under gear glinting in the open sunlit room. Mia stared open mouthed at them, surprise quickly turning to worry on her pretty face. She looked awful. Her long red hair was messy, and dirt and grime coated her arms and some of her face. Several raw red scratches ran down her arms. They all instantly jumped up.

"Mia! Are you alright? What happened?"

"Mia, what the-"

"Who did this? I'll kill him!"

Mia shook her head and smiled slightly. "Relax guys, I'm fine. We got in an accident. I don't…" her voice caught before she quickly smoothed it over, forcing a small smile on her face. "I don't know who caused it so you can't kill them Cye. But thanks anyway."

"We?" Sage asked suddenly, and Mia stepped aside, letting Nikki come into view. The guys stared at her for a moment, seeing the dried blood on her face, then stared at each other, realizing that they were all wearing their battle attire.

"This is Nikki, guys," Mia said quietly, gesturing to the dark haired woman behind her.

"Hi," Nikki said uncertainly. She looked at them, realizing their level of discomfort as they shifted back and forth. She gave a sort of sarcastic smile. "Hey listen, normally I'd give you guys hell about the matching costumes and such, but I just had my head split open and I'd like to go clean up and crawl in a hole to die right now. So if you'll excuse me, I'll just let you go back to your slumber party."

The guys stared at her. Mia just smiled and shrugged. Nikki was Nikki. The dark haired girl turned and headed up the stairs. Mia seemed to come to herself and called over her shoulder for Nikki to go to the third room on the right, but Nikki had already disappeared.

Mia turned back and looked at them all. They didn't look much better than her or Nikki. They had all removed their gear and were in normal clothes now, but none of them looked relaxed. White Blaze stayed curled up at Ryo's feet but purred in her direction. The tiger also watched her carefully.

"Hello Ryo," Mia said quietly. The black haired man remained where he was standing across the room, but he nodded at her silently.

"Wow, that was close," Cye said, "We're lucky she didn't press us about our gear." Mia smiled non-committally. She moved into the room and sat on the arm of the couch, giving both Cye and Kento a quick hug as she passed by.

"So what's going on guys?" Mia asked seriously. "Why are you all here and armed? What's happening?"

"You're hurt, shouldn't we take you to the hospital?" Sage asked, ignoring her question. "Both of you?"

"We're fine," Mia whispered, smile fixed on her face. Cye was staring at her carefully, as were the others.

"You're not fine," Cye said shortly, "but I'm not sure _what_ is wrong with you."

"Cye!" Kento said sharply, "That's a rude thing to say to Mia." The warrior of Hardrock plopped down on the couch next to her and grabbed her up in a big bear hug.

"Been way too long, Mia!" he grinned, squeezing her ribs and making her winch through her smile. "Glad to have to around again."

"This is my house Kento," Mia reminded him gently. Then she looked around. "Speaking of which…what happened? None of you guys look too good and neither does this place."

"Listen Mia," Ryo said suddenly, voice hard, "you need to get that girl and get both of you out of here. Something bad's going down, and we need to make sure we can concentrate."

Mia's eyes immediately narrowed and she didn't even try to retain her smile.

"Listen Ryo if you think you can just cryptically order me out of my own house then you have another thing coming-" Ryo interrupted her bluntly.

"Don't argue, Mia. It's not safe. Blaze, take Mia and get her out of here." White Blaze stood and looked uncertainly at his master. Then he padded over to her. Mia jumped up, fully angry now.

"How dare you?" she demanded furiously. "You can't just kick me out-"

"Guys," Sage tried to intercede, but the owner of the establishment was not paying any attention to him, and neither was his leader.

"I can do it because it's the right thing to do," Ryo snapped back. "You can't help us and I don't want you getting hurt because you're in the way again."

"In the way? _Again_?" At this Kento and Cye both edged back.

"Guys?" Sage once again tried to get everyone's attention but they ignored him. Mia pushed past White Blaze and stalked over to where Ryo stood stubbornly.

"Listen mister," she started, only to hear a voice behind her say,

"Hey Mia, I don't know where you're keeping your extra towels now. Can you…what's going on?" Nikki stared confused around the room. She had the blood scrubbed off her face but still looked rough for the wear.

"Mia," Ryo was still saying, "don't argue this time! There's nothing you can do, so it's just better if you leave."

"What is wrong with you?" Mia demanded angrily. "Why do you always act this? Why can't you for once-"

"Guys!" Sage yelled this time.

Both of them turned towards him and spoke simultaneously, "What!"

"Rowen's back. I just felt him."

In the doorway Nikki went slightly pale and swung around, only to find a tall blue haired man standing directly behind her. His dark blue eyes were flashing and he glared furiously at her. Nikki took a step back.

"You…" Rowen growled.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N This chapter is out so fast because of certain threats…cough Ghost of the Dawn cough. I'll try not to leave you guys on too many more cliffies. Or at least if I do, I'll be good about updating quickly. Ronin Warriors doesn't belong to me and constructive criticism is always welcome.

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter Five

"You…" growled Rowen from where he stood behind Nikki. The short dark haired woman jumped at the sound of his voice, momentarily shrinking back. Then she squared her shoulders and looked up at him and gave him her best condescending look.

"Yes, me. And I would appreciate if people didn't sneak up behind me. If you want to spend your time, mister, snarling like a dog at people you don't know then I suggest you go outside where you belong. Find a tree or something to piss on."

Even Mia choked on that one. Cye snorted and Kento's jaw dropped. Nikki took a step forward and glared up at Rowen, head bent almost all the way back so she could stare him in the eyes. From across the room came a low growl and White Blaze stood, padding across the room to the doorway. He crouched down and watched the two, tailing flicking back and forth.

"What are you looking at?" she demanded, hands on her hips. Rowen clenched his teeth, and they could see his muscles bunched up with tension. If the guys hadn't have known better they would have sworn Rowen was ready to hit her. But that was ridiculous. Rowen had always ignored most females he came across, and the few he noticed or befriended he'd always been a complete gentleman to. Well…mostly a gentleman. He wasn't above having a little fun. But now he looked ready to toss her up against the wall.

"Uh, Rowen?" Sage asked quietly, "Are you alright?"

"Me?" Rowen asked, blue eyes continuing to drill into the person in front of him. His voice was harsh coming out. "Me, I'm just fine. As long as you're not counting the last four hours or so. If you are, then I've been better."

"Listen," Nikki said abruptly, turning away as she spoke, "I don't know what blue-boy here's damage is but…" She yelped as Rowen seized her arm and snapped her back around to face him.

"Don't turn your back on me," he snarled, "I don't trust you enough for you to do that." The guys stared in shock at him for a full moment before they closed in on him.

"Hey Rowen, back off dude," Kento snapped, trying to put himself between Rowen and the Mia's friend. "I don't know what's going on but this is one of Mia's friends, so chill. She's not bad."

Rowen refused to release Nikki's arm or acknowledge the big man next to him.

"What did you do?" Rowen demanded, giving her a little shake. Nikki tried to pull away and a brief look of panic crossed her face. Mia jumped up and pushed behind Kento, trying to intervene.

"Rowen, please, you're hurting her! She my friend! You don't know her; leave her alone. She didn't do anything!" Mia tried to convince him.

"Get off me you big jackass-" Nikki started only to be shook again, hard enough to rattle her teeth.

"What did you do?" Rowen roared this time, practically lifting her off her feet in his rage. Kento reached for him but Rowen roughly shouldered him off. "Tell me!"

"Rowen stop it!" Mia cried, and forced her body between Rowen and Nikki. She tried to strike his arm the way she'd seen Ryo do and make him drop Nikki, but instead found the Ronin of Strata suddenly turning his rage on her.

"And you! What the hell did both of you do!" Rowen pushed Nikki aside and loomed over Mia, shaking with fury. Suddenly two pairs of hands grabbed him and threw him backwards out of the room and into the hallway. Rowen's back hit the wall with a crunch. He looked up, trying to regain his bearings, only to find Sage holding down his torso and Ryo's angry blue eyes in front of his own.

"What ever the hell is your problem, Rowen, get a hold of yourself NOW!" Ryo snapped, staring down the other man. Rowen met his gaze for one long strained moment before dropping his eyes only slightly. It wasn't much, but it was enough and Ryo moved back. Sage slowly released Rowen, but stayed where he was crouched by his friend's side. Rowen straightened and regained his feet, content to glare at the girls from across the hall. Ryo remained three feet away from Rowen, arms crossed and tense, while Kento and Cye also placed themselves in the hall between Rowen, Mia, and Nikki.

"Is the whole world going completely psycho?" Kento muttered to himself, shaking his head and rubbing his shoulder where Rowen had caught him. Rowen might be the tall lean one of the group, but he was much stronger than he looked. Cye said nothing, only he went from staring at Rowen to staring at Mia, back and forth until he too was shaking his head and muttering under his breath. No one was saying anything so Sage finally spoke up.

"Rowen, where were you? We…_needed_ you a while ago. Did anything happen?" Sage stressed his words, trying to covey his meaning to his friend without giving away too much in front of the stranger in their midst. Rowen only snorted at Sage's descretion.

"Don't worry about it Sage. She knows who we are, there's no point in hiding anything. In fact I bet she knows a hell of a lot more than the rest of us do right now, isn't that right?" The last he said in Nikki's direction, where she was shoulder to shoulder with Mia. Both women looked pale. Mia looked…worried. She was fiddling with her hands. Rowen met Nikki's eyes and she glared back at him.

"Oooookay," Kento said, scratching behind his right ear, "Why don't you start from the beginning, huh Ro?" The other Ronins nodded in agreement.

"Fine," Rowen agreed, shifting forward slightly. Ryo tensed and Rowen gave him an amused condescending look. Ryo bristled but Sage stepped between them and both backed off.

"I was at school. I was working with another student and started remembering stuff. Weird stuff. When I started driving over here I kept hearing people say things in my head, like I was remembering old conversations. Only I wasn't actually remembering them because I'd never heard these conversations before. Each time I'd hear one my head would hurt worse and worse. Finally I had to pull over because it got too bad, and I…"

"You what?" Sage pressed when Rowen drifted off. Rowen looked down and shook his head slightly as if coming out of a dream.

"I don't know. Maybe I passed out? Or maybe just fell asleep, I don't know. But I saw things. I can't really explain them. It's sort of like waking up from a nightmare that you don't remember but you still feel all cold inside. You just get bits of images from it, but don't know what they mean. And when I saw _he_r," Rowen's voice lowered and got harsher, and he once again glared angrily at Nikki. "…When I saw her some came back to me. But not much and not anything good."

The others were giving Rowen disbelieving looks but he ignored them and turned to where Mia still stood silently. "And you, my dear little Mia, were right in the middle of everything. I don't really know who _she_ is, only that I don't like or trust her. That doesn't bother me so much. But why the hell don't I trust you any further than I can spit?"

This last comment made Mia go still. Then her face flushed with color and she shook her head angrily.

"Fine Rowen, be that way. I don't know what the hell's wrong with you, but you owe both Nikki and I an apology for how rudely you've acted. We've both had a long and tiring day and neither of us needed your little temper tantrum right now. When you get your head on straight we can talk, but right now I have more important things to do than to deal with you. Come on Nikki, I'll show you where the towels are." Mia swept past them coolly, the dark haired woman silent at her heels. The five men just stared at her, still trying to take all of this in. Mia paused on the steps, regally addressing the Ronins.

"Oh, and I assume you've all decided to stay here for a while. That's fine, but whatever it is that you did to the outside of my house, please fix it. It looks awful." With that she disappeared up the stairs.

The Ronins continued to stare at each other in confused silence. Then they all broke out at once.

"What the hell was that all about?"

"Oh great, we're hearing voices and Rowen's seeing things. Perfect."

"I don't get it man, but how dare you go after two girls like that? Especially Mia!"

"Why didn't White Blaze stop you from going after them?"

The last comment shut them up and as one they all turned to look at Cye. Cye was looking at where White Blaze was still crouched by the doorway, where he'd been the entire fight. His tail had stopped flicking but he was now watching the stairs with one eye and the Ronins with the other. At hearing his name, the tiger stood and moved over to Rowen, rubbing his head against Rowen's leg. Then he gave them all only what could be called a pointed look before calmly padding up the stairs.

"You've got to be kidding me!" This time Kento threw his hands up in the air in defeat. "So the tiger thinks it's okay for you to beat up women, Ro. Great. Nice change from your usual 'defend the mortal realm' stuff. Now it can be 'hallucinations make me strip down to a little white wife-beater so I can show her who's boss and _then_ defend the mortal real' stuff. Great. I'm going to leave this one to you guys. If you need me, I'll be outside trying to fix Mia's house. Mia being the beloved friend Rowen went crazy on who's housing us these days."

Kento headed for the front door, disappearing from sight. Then his head popped back into view as he added, "And by the way, if anyone figures out how to fight the demon voice that wants to eat my soul, please let me know."

Most people wouldn't have known how to respond to that. Rowen however wasn't most people.

"Sure thing cupcake."

Sage rolled his eyes at his now slightly relaxed friend.

"What?" Rowen asked innocently. Then his usual mischievous grin started to split his face. He looked around at each of the angry and confused men that surrounded him and clapped his hands together. "So, what'd I miss?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You said we wouldn't see them. You said this would be a brief stopover at your home to get food and clothes. You said I'd get to use your grant money to play with new equipment but nooooooo. No, we show up, the boys are all confused and dressed for fighting, and your house is trashed like it got hit with a shock wave, a _shock wave_ Mia, remember those? Remember Mia! Those aren't fun Mia. They were _never_ fun. They hurt and they killed people and they can lift a freaking car off the road with no warning and slam it into other cars and do you know what that means Mia? Do you!"

Nikki took a short slightly hysterical breath before plowing on.

"This wasn't supposed to happen again! It's not! We took care of it, and now Rowen's walking around knowing that something's wrong and pretty soon he'll have everyone else convinced that something's wrong, and then they'll find out everything we did and and…and _he's_ _back._ He's back. Oh god he's back…" Nikki's voice had reached panic octaves and Mia grabbed her hand and shook her hard. That had been happening to Nikki a lot that day.

"Stop. Stop okay, we don't know. We don't know what's happening yet, and we don't know exactly what Rowen remembers, and everything's still okay. If _he_ was actually back don't you think he would've gone after us first? It's more fun to terrorize those that already know you. He'd come after us first Nik."

The comment was meant as reassurance but made the shorter woman go pure white. Quickly Mia continued on.

"But he _hasn't_. At least not that we know for sure. We wouldn't be the first people in the world to get into a strange car accident. Everything's still okay."

"You're really in denial aren't you?" Nikki said, voice suddenly hard. "You're just as freaked out as I am. But maybe keeping your head in the sand _will_ make things go away."

Mia glared at Nikki and said nothing. She stood and went to her bedroom window. Outside she could see trees knocked over and bushes uprooted. Like something had hit them all in one giant wave. Her stomach sunk and she started shivering despite herself."

"What do we do Mia?" Nikki asked. "Do we tell them? Mia?"

Mia shook herself then looked over at Nikki, a determined expression on her pretty face.

"No. We don't tell them unless we have no other choice."

"What about Rowen? He almost ruined everything last time. It's in his nature to try to root this out again."

"Don't let him this time." Mia's words weren't meant to be harsh but Nikki inadvertently flinched.

"Do you think he remembers any of that?" Nikki asked softly. Mia sighed and shook her head, looking out the window again.

"No," Mia replied. "If he did, all hell would've broken lose downstairs. No, all he remembers is the bad, and only a tiny part of that."

"It was all bad," Nikki whispered to herself, so quiet that she didn't realize Mia had heard her. Then Nikki squared her shoulders and stood up.

"Well, there's nothing that can be done about it tonight. I'll just convince Rowen that he's imagining things. Or if I can't, I'll just piss him off enough that he'll be too distracted to figure anything else out. Then we leave here, Mia. Promise me." Nikki's voice had that 'stubborn as a rock' tone and Mia had no choice but to smile and nod at her friend. Nikki nodded back and disappeared into the bathroom to take a much-needed shower.

Sadly Mia turned back to the scenery outside. A dark head bobbed around, trying to fix things. Mia touched the glass and ran a finger down the side of the figure below.

"It won't help Kento," she whispered, "you can't stop this now." Shivering Mia sat on her bed, reflexively gripping the small silver necklace she wore. Once upon a time she had gathered great comfort from that necklace. Now all she had for comfort was herself. Pulling herself together, Mia stood and headed for the door. She couldn't avoid them forever, and dinnertime was coming. Mia swept out of her room, lost in her own thoughts.

He grinned at her back as she shut the door.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter for you. One more week and I'll be able to concentrate more on this story. I just wanted to say thanks for all the great feedback. Between the Lines has over 1000 hits already and it's only been up a month and a half! That's so awesome! You guys rock. :D As always, I don't own Ronin Warriors, and constructive criticism is always welcome.

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter Six

"How are you doing, Rowen?"

Rowen gave his friend a withering look from where he lay sprawled on his bed. He had one foot propped up on the wall at a bizarre angle; an uncomfortable position if Sage had ever seen one. He had his arms folded underneath his head, but even hidden, Sage could hear the fingers tapping rapidly on the headboard.

"Oh I'm great," Rowen replied sarcastically. "Dinner was nice, don't you think?"

Sage sighed and sat down on his own bed, elbows on his knees.

"Come on Rowen, they didn't mean it the way you took it. Everyone's a little strung out right now, and everyone's confused," Sage tried to smooth over. Rowen just snorted and turned his glare to the ceiling.

"I especially liked the part where Ryo threatened to kick me out of the house," Rowen continued bitterly.

"Rowen, you started yelling at Mia and that Nikki girl again. Of course that's going to cause a problem." Sage ignored the scowl on his best friend's face and continued on.

"I know you're upset, but try to think logically for a moment, okay? Mia's been right by our side since the very beginning. She's taken care of us when we were hurt, and she's kept a roof over our heads when we needed one. She worked just as hard to defeat Talpa as any one of us and put her life at risk countless times. Every single one of us wouldn't think twice about coming to her defense, so how did you think they would react to you…"

"Me what?"

"Treating her like the enemy, Rowen! You turned on both of them like they were the bad guys. Mia's never once given us any reason to think that she wasn't completely trustworthy. She didn't deserve that, especially not tonight. She'd already had a rough day as it was. They got in a really bad car accident on their way from the airport."

Rowen was silent for a moment, his bare foot thumping steadily against the wall. Then suddenly he sat up, turning intense dark blue eyes on Sage.

"Then why did they walk home?" Rowen demanded. "She's smarter than that. They were both injured, even if not badly. It's moronic to just walk away from a car crash, and that road has plenty of traffic during the afternoon. Someone would have been by to help them."

"They could have been in shock Rowen," Sage interjected, "Mia might be tough as nails, but even she can get shook up."

"Fine," Rowen abruptly conceded the point before plunging ahead. "But does that explain what she did when they got here? The outside of the house is _trashed_, Sage! It's like a hurricane hit it. Instead of asking what happened, she just ordered us to clean it up, like it was nothing. Does that make sense to you? Since when did Mia not want to know exactly what happened to her stuff? She's as anal as you are!" That got a dirty look from Sage.

"Like it's not true," Rowen dismissed his friend's reaction. "And I'm still bothered by the whole car accident thing. Did anyone see her call the police? Or the rental company?"

"Actually Cye was talking about that with her before dinner. She contacted both."

At this Rowen paused, and Sage took the opportunity to try to head his friend off.

"See Rowen, it's not as weird as you think. And Mia's not mad at you, in case that's bothering you. She was a little irritated, but now she's just worried about you. Her friend seems offended, but she'll get over it."

"Nikki never gets over anything," Rowen muttered under his breath. Then he seemed to realize what he had said and his eyes widened. He stared accusingly at Sage.

"See?" he cried, rising to his feet to stomp across the room. "Why do I know that?" he demanded of himself, shaking his head vigorously. Blue strands failed to cover up his frustrated expression. "There's no reason I should know that!"

"Rowen, you guys have managed to cross each other more times than I can count in the last four hours. Isn't that reason enough to assume…"

"But I'm not assuming, Sage! Listen to me, damn it! No one's listening to me! I don't think, I know. _I know_. Explain that to me. Explain it to me, because I don't understand." Rowen plopped back down on his bed, head in his hands. It was the most upset Sage could remember his friend being in a long time. Sage sat back and looked at Rowen for a while, knowing that anything he said right now would go in one ear and out the other.

Sage had to admit, when he'd first listened to Rowen's rant downstairs, he'd thought that his friend might have slipped a little. The others were in various stages of worry and frustration, going back and forth between this disturbing new enemy and the crazed new version of Rowen. Rowen was familiar and easier to deal with than what had happened outside earlier, so Sage could see how the guys had gravitated to jumping down Rowen's throat. But there were a couple things bothering him too.

Sage hadn't missed how half-heartedly Cye had joined in on trying to contain Rowen at dinner. While most of the time Rowen had gone back and forth between glaring at Nikki and Mia, and then the rest of them, Cye had been focused only on Mia. He had watched her all night, completely ignoring Nikki until the girl had started yelling at Rowen. Even then his eyes had kept going back to Mia.

Something was different about Cye. Ever since that day in the forest when Sage had shown them what was happening to him, Cye had seemed…off. He was reacting to things that he usually didn't react to, and seemed constantly distracted. He'd respond to things they were thinking, but not saying, especially when it came to Ryo. When they had been attacked outside, Cye had felt the enemy before even Sage had and had been affected by it more. Even after two showers, Sage still felt dirty from the encounter. He understood why Cye had thrown up. The aura coming off of the thing was vile. Just thinking about it made Sage's skin crawl.

Cye's comment about White Blaze had stuck in Sage's mind as well. The tiger was always the first to protect them, especially Mia and Yuli. But today he had merely watched Rowen go off. Even now the tiger was behaving oddly. He'd been prowling around the house, moving systematically through each room as if he was searching for something. He'd gone through the entire place at least twice that Sage knew of, and he had still been at it when Sage had gone into his and Rowen's room.

And lastly, Sage himself didn't feel right. Ever since this afternoon, he'd felt a level of discomfort that he wasn't used to. Usually at Mia's they all could relax their guard moderately, knowing that they were all together protecting each other. Sage had been fighting the urge all night to don his armor. Why he'd been unable to earlier Sage didn't know, but when he'd regained consciousness he'd called his armor to him. It had responded without any problems. It made no sense. And the one who usually made the most sense was walking around muttering about voices and memories and had developed a bit of a twitch. Sage sighed tiredly.

"Tell me again, Rowen," Sage said softly. "I'm listening now."

Rowen looked up at him, a heavy strand of blue hair falling over his left eye. His eyes stayed intently on Sage as he spoke, voice low and heavy.

"I know her. Nikki. I know her. I don't know why or how, but I do. And I don't trust her. She…she _did_ something. Mia too. I don't know what. I don't know why. All I know is that I have this overwhelming rage any time I look at either one of them. I…" Rowen drifted off, looking back down.

"You what?" Sage pressed gently. Rowen remained silent for a long time, until finally he looked back to his best friend. His dark blue eyes glittered with emotion in the failing light and his voice cracked.

"I want to hurt them, Seiji."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm going to kill him," Nikki muttered furiously. Mia shook her head at her friend from behind her computer, fingers rapidly clicking.

"Relax Nik, you know how he is."

"Did you hear what he called me?" Nikki demanded of Mia. The other girl nodded and shrugged.

"He called me the same."

"Doesn't that bother you?" Nikki asked, voice incredulous.

"Yes, but getting all upset isn't going to help matters. Right now we need to find out what to do about a car to get out to the site tomorrow."

"What about your old jeep?" Nikki suggested. "The red one? Do you still have that?"

"That thing's ancient, Nikki. We'd be lucky to get out there without it dying on us. Right now I need something reliable, and the rental company's not being helpful."

"You crashed their car," Nikki replied spitefully. "_You_ crashed it and then fled the scene of the accident. Of course they aren't being helpful. When someone single-handedly manages to flip their rental car into a ditch from the center of a busy highway without any trace of an accident..."

"Nikki, quit it!" Mia suddenly snapped. "You're not helping."

Nikki suddenly grinned at her friend from where she sat across the room.

"Ha! It _does_ bother you what Rowen said."

"Leave me alone," Mia grumped. Nikki just grinned evilly and moved to Mia's desk, sitting on the edge.

"We're going to have to take the jeep, you know. Fight it all you want, but we will," Nikki continued. Mia gave Nikki a death glare.

"You know, I liked you a whole lot better when you were several continents away from me," Mia retorted.

"But then I miss the fun of seeing your pretty face get all scrunched up and ugly."

"You're a jerk."

"It's why you love me."

"Go bother Rowen, will you Nik? I really do need to get some work done."

Nikki immediately went quiet and tugged at the old sweatshirt her friend had loaned her. It was tighter than she liked and fell almost to her knees, but Mia was taller and slimmer than her.

"I don't want to talk to him. He already…he already doesn't like me. It's not like last time," she spoke quietly.

"Last time he didn't like you either," Mia joked. The expression on Nikki's face warned Mia to drop it. Sighing, the taller girl reached over and squeezed her friend's hand.

"Honey, you can't change what happened. I don't know why he remembers the little bit he does, but maybe if you guys became friends it would stop him from digging too deep." Nikki grunted and moved away from the desk, wandering around and fingering the artifacts gathered on the walls of the study.

"When did Rowen ever learn to let something go once he had hold of it?" Nikki asked bitterly. "He grabs at things and drives them into the ground. It's better if we just get out of here as soon as possible."

"Tomorrow. We'll be gone tomorrow. You just have to deal with one night," Mia reassured her. Nikki nodded and wandered out of the room towards the guest room she was staying in, face expressionless. Mia watched her go, and then shook her head. One night. A lot could happen in one night. Right now the guys were all on edge, trying to figure out what had happened earlier that day. They had briefly filled her in when Nikki wasn't around, but Ryo hadn't seemed interested in her being involved and the others were taking his lead. It was fine with Mia. There were certain things she was perfectly happy not knowing right now.

_"Are we playing pretend?"_

The voice whispered it right behind her ear. Mia started violently and jumped up, turning around quickly. Nothing was there. She scanned the room, every corner, her heart beating wildly. She waited…but nothing happened. She slowly moved back to her desk and lowered herself carefully into her chair, still watching the entire room. The door was open and she could see the light from the living room. Sounds of the guys could be heard. Mia forced herself to breath slower. Nothing. It was nothing. She'd had a long day and she was tired. She just needed some sleep, badly.

_"Poor child, so afraid…were you bad?"_

This time Mia jumped out of her chair and dashed across the room, wildly yanking open a display case. She grabbed the jewel dagger on display and wheeled around, weapon held up in front of her. She pressed her back against the wall and slid towards the door, eyes rapidly going to every nook and cranny. The room was brightly lit, and she could see nothing else but her and the normal artifacts. She edged towards the door, knowing she should cry out for help. But still, some deep part of her brain refused to register what was happening and kept her from it.

"You're not here," she whispered through clenched teeth. "You're gone. This is just my imagination. You're gone." She edged even closer to the door. Three more steps. She was just imagining everything. There was no one here but her. No one.

"_Will they punish you? You've been very bad, little one. I'd punish you."_

The voice was right behind her and Mia screamed, jumping away from the wall and spinning around. She lashed out with her dagger but cut only wallpaper. She turned wildly, trying to find the voice. _You're not here, you're not here, you're not here_, Mia's mind repeated over and over again dumbly. She started to dash for the door, then froze.

_"I like punishing you, I always have…"_

Mia knew. No matter what her brain had told her, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt. Her body started trembling violently. She instinctively whispered, "Ryo…"

Then Mia looked up.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cye made it to the room first, to find her still screaming at the top of her lungs. He froze in the doorframe, sea blue eyes going wide with shock. The normally pale yellow room was splattered with bright crimson, and the metallic smell of fresh blood filled his nostrils. Mia was nowhere to be seen. Cye lunged into the room, towards the sound of Mia's terror filled voice, forcing his mind not to dwell on the liquid covering the room.

"Mia!" he gasped, searching for her. The screaming stopped but a keening noise came from one side of the room.

She was huddled under her desk, knees pulled up to her chest, rocking violently back and forth. Her eyes were clenched shut and tears dripped down her face. Cye grabbed her and pulled her out, lifting her in his arms and carrying her out of the room. He laid her shaking form down on the carpet in the hall, instinct making him slam the door shut behind them.Just in case something was in there, it was now trapped. Cye pulled her arms away from her body as he checked for where she was injured, just as Kento and Ryo came plunging up the stairs.

"Cye! Mia!" Ryo cried, seeing Mia collapsed in Cye's grip.

Cye pointed at the closed door. "In there! Something…in there!" Ryo and Kento went crashing through the door, just as Sage and Rowen appeared, a frightened looking Nikki behind them.

"Mia!" Sage gasped, seeing the walls inside the study. He instantly dropped down next to her and helped Cye check her for injuries. White Blaze brushed past them and crouched in the doorway, growling.

"Nothing," Cye murmured, running his hands up and down her arms and sides. "There's nothing wrong. No wounds." Sage muttered agreement as he wrapped his arms around the shaking woman.

"Easy, Mia," he whispered gently, "It's okay. We've got you." Slim fingers dug into his skin and he tightened his hold on her. Cye turned and hesitated, loath to enter the room. Ryo and Kento were standing in the middle of the study, looking back and forth. The blood on the walls seemed to not bother them at all.

Rowen stepped into the room, looking around. Nothing had been overturned, not a thing was out of place. Not even the window was open. The place was clean and organized; it was the way Mia had always kept it.

"There's nothing here," he said to Ryo and Kento. They nodded at him. Out in the hall, they could still hear Mia's quiet cries. From the doorway, Cye looked sick.

"Thank goodness none of that's from Mia," Cye said, staring at the walls. The three looked at the walls and then back at Cye.

"Umm, whatcha talking about Cye?" Kento asked, scratching his head. "What's not from Mia?"

Cye looked at Kento incredulously and gestured at the gore-covered room.

"That!" Cye said, pointing at the blood stains going up on the ceiling above them. "Everywhere! All the blood! When I got here, I didn't know if she was..." he trailed off as if he didn't want to even say the words.

"Cye?" Ryo said uncertainly, "I don't see any blood. Everything looks fine here." Kento and Rowen voiced agreement. Cye's jaw dropped.

"You've got to be kidding! It's everywhere! It's like a slaughterhouse in here. It smells like one!"

Ryo shrugged, then moved back into the hall where Mia and Sage were. Nikki remained standing a few feet away, silent. Ryo knelt down next to Mia, gently touching her shoulder. She shivered, but her tears had stopped.

"Sage, do you see anything?" Ryo asked quietly. Sage looked at the room and shuddered.

"There's blood everywhere, Ryo." Ryo nodded and stood, motioning the others to come back into the hall.

"Who sees it?" Ryo asked. Sage and Cye both indicated they did. From the looks on their faces, it was hard to believe they didn't see _something_. Ryo turned to Mia, seeing that she was still in no condition to tell them anything. His tiger blue eyes turned to Nikki. The dark haired woman was staring at the room with a glazed over expression of fear on her face.

"Do you see it too?" Ryo asked her. Nikki said nothing; she just continued to stare at the room, completely ignoring her friend. Ryo moved up to her, looking down as he blocked off the view of the study. Nikki started and raised fearful eyes to him.

"Do you see it Nikki?" Ryo repeated again. Nikki slowly nodded. Ryo swung around. "Close that door," he ordered, "and make sure no one goes back in. Stay together, at least two to a room. I don't know what the hell's going on, but what ever happened to Mia isn't going to repeat itself. Blaze, keep an eye on Mia, okay?"

The tiger turned to his master and growled again, tail continuing to flick, but he padded over to where Mia was. She had pulled away from Sage and sat with her head buried in her arms.

"You're okay, Mia," Kento said thickly, "We're not going to let anything happen to you." Mia nodded into her arms but didn't speak. Ryo motioned to Kento, and Kento moved over and leaned down, easily lifting her up. He carried her towards her bedroom, White Blaze in their wake. Rowen closed the door firmly shut. His eyes were on Nikki. She looked terrified.

"What do you think happened?" Cye asked Sage, since Sage was the only Ronin who could see what he saw. "It looked like someone had been torn to pieces. When I heard her screaming and went in, I thought that she…" Cye trailed off and shuddered.

"I think something's playing games with us," Sage declared, brushing a chunk of blonde hair out of his eyes. Then his eyes narrowed and he turned towards where Nikki had been slowly backing away. She stopped, a "deer in the headlights" look all over her face. Sage looked at her suspiciously.

"And I think you know what it is."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mia rolled over in bed, dragging the blankets with her. She buried her face in the pillow, not acknowledging the Ronin that stood guard in her room. She didn't want to talk to them. She didn't want to tell them what she knew…that it didn't matter how many of them stood watch over her. It wouldn't stop. _It would never stop_.

Her mind eventually shut down, the way it does when you can't face what's right in front of you anymore. Her breathing slowed and she finally fell asleep. When soft sleepy noises indicated that she had in fact gone to sleep, he moved to her bedside and sat down next to her. He ran a gentle finger down her arm and enclosed her hand with his. He stretched out along side her in the bed, one strong arm draping over her slim form. He allowed himself to breath in the scent of her hair.

"Mia," he whispered softly. She stirred restlessly in his arms and he shifted so that she had more room, entwining their fingers.

"Mia," he spoke again, leaning over her. Her hand twitched and she weakly tried to pull it away from his. "Everything's going to be okay. Don't worry," he reassured her.

Across the room the Ronin shifted positions, keeping watch protectively. The tiger started to growl.

He grinned, tightening his hand down tightly on hers. In her sleep she whimpered fearfully. He grinned even bigger as he whispered in her ear.

_"I'm here…"_


	7. Chapter 7

A/N Couldn't help myself. Hope you like. Pretend I left a disclaimer. :)

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter Seven

_Cye smiled as she slipped her hand into his. He didn't say anything as they continued to walk along the edge of the lake, listening to the gentle lapping of the water against the shore. Her slim fingers entwined with his and he felt his heart soar. She was so beautiful…he just couldn't get over it. Every thing about her was perfect. From the freckles on her slightly upturned nose to her tiny little toes; he was completely captivated by her. The trust she'd placed in him when she had extended her hand to him filled him with equal amounts of nervousness and protectiveness. The sun shone down on them, making her hair shades lighter than it normally was. He wanted to run his hands through it, but he didn't want to possibly ruin the moment they were in. But god, she was so beautiful…_

_She tripped on a partially buried rock and yelped, losing her balance. Cye cursed his inattention and instinctively reached for her, catching her before she fell. Her weight was light in his arms, lighter than he would have believed. She blushed, face down-turned, and he immediately felt awful._

_"I'm sorry," Cye said quietly, standing still but not releasing her. "I couldn't stop staring at you. It was my fault."_

_She kept her face away, and he felt a slight trembling. _

_"Hey," he whispered, cupping her chin in his hand and tipping her face up. She was laughing silently, her mouth quirked up in a grin. Cye immediately relaxed and let himself smile as well. She reached up and touched his face, fingers brushing his upturned lips._

_"So serious…" she teased. Cye chuckled, pulling her in tighter._

_"Brat." _

_She laughed at his words and pulled back, deftly avoiding the rock she'd tripped on before. She reached for his hand again, face upturned. _

"_Try not to suck this time," she ordered. Cye shook his head ruefully, but he took her hand again. _

"_Yes my lady," he joked, drawing her along with him and tucking her arm through his. She was still smiling, enjoying the warm sunshine on her skin, letting him lead her along. It took them two wonderful hours to stroll around the lake, and he loved every single minute of it. They were almost back to the house when she suddenly perked up and turned to the driveway. _

"_He's back," she exclaimed happily. She squeezed Cye's bicep before slipping her arm out. She made a beeline for to where the other man stood waiting for her, a smile on his face. She hugged him and let him take her hand, guiding her into the house. Cye stood watching silently. _

_He would not be jealous. He would not be jealous. He would not be…_

_Sighing Cye continued after her to the house, the thought repeating in his mind. He would not be jealous. They couldn't afford that right now. By sheer force of will he wouldn't let it happen. He _could not_ let it happen. But she was so beautiful…_

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cye snapped awake, disoriented. His back hurt and his legs were stiff, making him groan when he stretched out. His foot promptly thumped into something soft and furry. Cye looked down and saw that his shoe was buried up to the ankle in White Blaze's side, and the tiger was staring at him grumpily. Cye quickly retrieved his foot.

"Sorry Blaze," Cye apologized, covering up his mouth as he yawned. "Forgot you were there." The tiger just grunted and turned back towards the room they were guarding. Cye remembered that he'd parked out in the doorway of Mia's room and he was supposed to be keeping an eye on her. Instantly he was awake and on his feet.

"Falling asleep when you were on watch. Stupid…" Cye muttered, scanning the room to make sure everything was still normal. A blanket-covered lump on the bed said that Mia was still sleeping. Good thing too, because if something would have happened when he was keeping guard the guys would've killed him.

Cye reassured himself that the room was clear, then sat back down cross-legged by White Blaze. He ran his fingers through the tiger's thick coat, listening to the large animal purr.

"She had a rough night, huh boy? She was tossing and turning most of the night. Whatever happened must have scared her half to death."

The tiger didn't answer, but he did lean into Cye's hand. The Ronin of Torrent smiled and gave the animal one more good scratch, hearing footsteps down the hall. A sleepy looking Ryo poked his head into the room, looking first at the bed, then at Cye.

"She alright?" he asked, running a hand through his messy black hair. Cye nodded and Ryo shrugged.

"Well it's day now. She should be okay until she gets up. Blaze, you mind staying with her until she does?" The tiger made a purring noise again, but whether it was a yes to Ryo or a reminder to Cye to keep rubbing him remained to be seen. Cye obliged the tiger quickly before rising and following his leader out of the room.

"Sage is making food," Ryo informed Cye as they walked towards the stairs. "Do you want something, or do you want to try to get some sleep?"

Cye colored slightly. "I actually fell asleep for awhile," he admitted, embarrassed. Ryo cocked an eyebrow at him, then laughed gently.

"We know Cye, don't worry about it. We all kept dropping by to check up anyways. We just figured you'd be there in case something tried to get in the room. We'd hear you yelp when you got stepped on, and we'd come running."

"I'm sorry Ryo---hey!" Cye stopped at the top of the stairs, an indignant look on his face. "I don't _yelp_."

Ryo just grinned and headed down the stairs. Cye followed quickly.

"I don't!" he declared, "I might gasp or exclaim or roar with fury, but I don't yelp."

"Sure Cye," Ryo replied noncommittally, heading into the kitchen. This only succeeded in goading the auburn haired warrior further.

"Name one time when you ever heard me yelp," Cye demanded. "Name just one time---oh shit! That's cold!" Cye jumped, cursing as an ice cube slid down his back and lodged itself in the loose waistband of his jeans. Behind him Kento stood holding a tray of ice cubes, a grin splitting his face.

"That was a yelp," Sage commented from where he stood at the counter, cracking an egg. "Rowen?" he asked the blue haired man already at the table.

"Yep. Most definitely a yelp," Rowen backed his friend up, chuckling. Ryo sat down next to Rowen, trying to hide his smile as Cye attempted to get the slippery ice out of his waistband. Unfortunately it had started to melt, slipping deeper into his jeans. Cye cursed, trying to fish it out without actually putting his hands too far down his pants. It slipped again, making him jump as icy cold hit skin that especially didn't like being cold. Finally he forwent all propriety and just dropped his pants, shoving his hands inside his underwear. Sighing in relief, he grabbed the remaining bit of ice and pulled it out.

"You know, I never would have thought Cye to be a boxer briefs man. Could have sworn he wore tightie whities," Rowen commented. Kento laughed, but Ryo looked confused.

"What's wrong with briefs?" Ryo asked them. "They're supportive."

"Sure Ryo," Rowen laughed, glancing over at Sage in amusement. Sage said nothing, he just cracked another egg. This for some reason made Rowen crack up completely and made Sage's face get all stony.

"What?" Ryo asked again. Cye just gave them all a death glare as he pulled his pants back up. A cough made them all turn. Mia and Nikki stood in the doorway, both looking interestedly at Cye. The Ronin of Torrent went beet red and whipped around, hastily trying to button and zip up his pants.

They all heard it when it happened.

"Oh shit!" Kento gasped as four men all collectively winced. The fifth went pure white. "Did he just…?" Mia clamped a hand down over her mouth in an attempt to keep herself from laughing, while Nikki didn't even bother to try to stifle it.

"Oh my god," Nikki said, tears pouring from her eyes. "He just…poor Cye!" She couldn't stop laughing. The Ronins looked like they didn't know whether to laugh or to cover themselves protectively, and for some reason Sage had a really smug expression on his face.

"Cye, are you alright?" Mia tried to ask with a straight face. The back of Cye's head nodded slowly.

"Could…could you ladies mind turning your backs for a moment?" Cye asked through clenched teeth.

"Sure Cye," Mia said as kindly as she could, hiding her face from him. Nikki just kept chortling and Mia swatted her arm, indicating for her to turn around. Nikki did, but she glanced over her shoulder at Cye, seeing him walk carefully across the kitchen with tears in his eyes. Mia hit her again and she turned around. Ryo snorted but managed to keep it in. Kento looked like he was seizing, trying to contain himself.

"Poor Cye," Nikki repeated, shoulders shaking with laughter. "Rowen, help him!" She didn't seem to realize what she had said, and Rowen gave her a very strange look. Still he rose and tried to assist his injured comrade. Cye batted away his helping hand, making Rowen grin as the door swung shut. The kitchen exploded with laughter. Even Mia couldn't help herself, leaning against Nikki as she cracked up.

"That's beautiful!" Kento said, thumping his hand down on the counter. "That'll teach Cye to fall asleep during guard duty!"

The comment immediately sobered the room. Mia's face went still and Nikki's mirrored it. Slowly Mia went to the table, sitting down across from Ryo. He peered intently at her. Her face was still pale, and she looked as if she hadn't slept all night. Yet she still managed to meet his gaze calmly. Ryo knew the look she had on her face. It was the "don't even try to make me talk about it" look. Ryo decided to try anyways.

"How are you feeling, Mia?" he asked.

"Fine." She stopped the next question by addressing the room. "We're leaving for a site this morning. We'll be out there for a couple days. If anyone needs to get a hold of me, then try my cell. We're just going to grab a quick breakfast first. Almost ready Sage?"

Sage murmured it was and brought a plate over to her. She said thanks and started eating, completely ignoring the man in front of her. Ryo sighed and reached for her hand. Mia deftly avoided it and rose, walking to the refrigerator to get some ketchup for her eggs. Ryo's tiger blue eyes followed her, his expression unreadable. The other Ronins instinctively shifted away from their leader.

"Mia, we need to talk about what happened last night," Ryo said, voice firm.

"I had a bad dream Ryo," Mia replied equally firmly. "I fell asleep at my computer and had a nightmare. I'm sorry it scared you, but there's nothing I can do about it today. I've just been stressed lately. Don't worry about it. Nikki, are you going to eat anything?"

Nikki's reply was cut off by Ryo's fist slamming into the table. Rowen's half filled glass of orange juice fell over and spilled down the tablecloth. Everyone jumped but Mia. Before he started his tirade, she cut him off smoothly.

"Oh calm down, and pass me the salt."

Ryo stared incredulously at her. Mia waited then leaned across the table and grabbed the salt herself.

"I mean it Ryo, if you want to eat at my table, or stay in my house for that matter, then you need to learn to contain yourself and act your age. You're not a teenager anymore." Even Nikki took a step back, shifting slightly behind Kento. They waited for the explosion but it didn't come. Ryo took a deep breath, in and out, then unclenched his fists.

"Alright Mia," Ryo said, obviously trying to control his temper. "Maybe you were unaware of it, but something else happened in your study last night. Sage and Cye saw some pretty weird stuff, and we're a little worried about something happening to you. We tried talking to Nikki last night but she's not saying anything. Which seems to be the same thing you're doing. I don't know why you're acting the way you're acting, but I'm getting really tired of being left in the dark. So I'm going to ask you _very_ nicely to please help us out here. And if you give me the same cold shoulder 'I don't know what you're talking about' attitude, I will take you outside and spank some sense into you. We aren't the enemies, Mia. So _please_ help us." The last was said through gritted teeth.

Mia's eyes widened then narrowed.

"You will do no such thing…" she growled, before turning to her friend. "Nikki, get your stuff, we're leaving."

Mia stood and made it two steps before she was seized and hoisted over a broad shoulder. She yelped like Cye and kicked out her feet.

"Ryo! Put me down! RYO!"

He ignored her as he carried her out of the kitchen, through the back door, and out into the lawn. Mia beat her fists against his back uselessly, long red hair falling over her face. She shrieked unintelligible threats until he reached the dock. Rowen and Cye heard the commotion and came outside. They all gathered a safe distance away to watch Ryo calmly deposit her in the lake. She went in with a splash, and came up sputtering. Ryo knelt down, leaning forward.

"You're not getting out of here until the attitude is gone," he said firmly. Mia cursed at him and splashed over to the side of the dock. Just as she went to hoist herself out, her wrists were gently gripped and pulled away. Mia went back with another splash.

"Ryo!" she yelled, voice becoming slightly plaintive.

"I told you Mia, you stay in until the attitude's gone. It's kind of cold today, and I bet the water's freezing." Mia gave him the meanest look she could muster while shivering in the water. Ryo just smiled at her.

"I'm not doing this to be mean, Mia. I'm also not going to let you walk out of here thinking you're indestructible. If something happened to you, it would kill us, so we're not going to let that happen. We've obviously been attacked by a bad guy. You and Nikki obviously know something about it. She saw us armed and it never even fazed her. You've both been cryptic and aloof since you got here, and if I didn't know better, I'd say you're scared to death and trying to hide it. Nikki's not even trying to hide it; she looked ready to bolt for cover last night. Enough."

Mia continued to glare at him, but eventually her glares turned to pitiful looks. She cast glances at the others, but no one was interceding when Ryo was like this. They'd never seen this side of him before.

"Fine," she chattered. "Fine, just let me out."

"Do you promise to be the nice old Mia?" Ryo asked. Mia rolled her eyes and splashed some cold water in his direction, but she nodded. Ryo leaned forward and grabbed her hands, lifting her out of the water. Ryo reached for her hand again and this time she didn't pull away. He looked seriously at her as he spoke.

"_Now_ we talk."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't know where you want me to start," Mia said, taking the mug of tea that Kento handed to her. She pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders and looked down at the couch.

"Try the beginning," Rowen said sarcastically. Sage and Nikki shot him identical looks. He ignored both. Mia looked at Nikki for a long moment, as if deciding something.

"Whatever _that_ was, you explain it too," Rowen suddenly snapped.

"Get over yourself," Nikki retorted, moving to sit at Mia's side. Rowen glared at her and started to reply but a look from Ryo cut him off.

He rolled his eyes and turned, picked up a pen off of the bookcase he stood by, balancing it on his fingertips. Nikki gave him a disgusted look and turned her back on him. Mia took a long drink before speaking.

"I got in a car crash yesterday. My rental got flipped over on the side of the road."

"We already know this," Rowen muttered. This time Cye's look silenced him.

"But it wasn't normal. When it happened, there were lots of cars around us. When we woke up, there was no one. I know for a fact several cars hit us, but we were the only one left. There wasn't even any glass on the road. When it happened it felt like a shock wave had hit us and thrown the car into the vehicle next to us. Afterwards my phone didn't work. I don't know why. I always get reception there, and my phone is fine now."

"Why didn't it surprise Nikki when we were in our gear?" Kento asked suddenly. Nikki grinned at him.

"You mean it's not normal for five guys to be dressed as sailor scouts?" Kento rolled his eyes at her. Nikki winked.

"How do you know five?" Cye asked quietly. He was standing across the room, leaning gingerly against the wall. He had yet to sit down since that morning. Nikki glanced at Mia, and Rowen coughed pointedly. Both girls gave him withering looks.

"Nikki's an old friend of mine," Mia said. "She knows about the armors because she's helping me with the research I'm doing. She's a scientist as well. Between the two of us we should be able to make some big breakthroughs at that new dig I'm in charge of. That's why she came with me. She needed to know about the Ronin armors to do her job."

"It's not like you to give away secrets, Mia," Sage said slightly suspiciously. Mia just shrugged.

"It's not like I gave her your names or anything, Sage. Nikki's not stupid. If it's a personal project I'm this concerned about that I drag her halfway across the world, and she has enough background to put everything together…I didn't ask you guys to be standing in my living room wearing battle gear. It's not unreasonable that she put two and two together." Sage's expression remained dubious but he didn't question her any more.

"Alright, then what happened to you last night?" Rowen asked, rolling the pencil down his arm. It fell off to the left, making him turn his suspicious look to it instead of the girls. "Are you still hanging on to the nightmare story?"

Mia went still, her fingers tightening on her mug. When she finally spoke, her voice was strained.

"There was something in the study with me last night. It started…whispering. I tried to get out of the room but the door slammed shut and…" she trailed off, holding the mug close as if for comfort.

"And whatever it was showed me things. Bad things. Things I don't want to remember or ever see again," Mia whispered.

"That doesn't explain why Cye and Sage saw blood, but the rest of us didn't," Ryo spoke darkly. Mia closed her eyes, and when she opened them they were glazed over.

"Sometimes we only see what we're supposed to see," she intoned, as if speaking words she'd heard many times before. Then she shook her head, snapping out of it, her normal voice resuming.

"Sometimes what is real to one person isn't real to another and vice versa. I was shown something I feared and the attack was completely psychological. It makes sense. The residuals are still in that room, and probably will be there until I don't fear it anymore, or maybe if enough time passes. Cye and Sage would be the most likely to pick up on it, because of their…sensitivity to such things."

"Meaning?" Kento asked, confused.

"Meaning that both Cye and I were affected faster and more by the enemy than you or Ryo," Sage answered for her. "If the same thing is what attacked Mia, we'd be able to pick up on it sooner than the others."

"Why me?" Cye asked Sage, confusion on his face. Sage didn't reply, but stared at his friend. Cye turned his face away, expression now stony.

"Anyway, I don't know what else to tell you about it," Mia finished. "You know as much as I."

Rowen walked out of the room and then right back inside, pacing.

"Gee Mia," he said sarcastically, "that all makes a lot of sense now. Except that you didn't tell us anything that we didn't already know. So how about something new?"

"Go to hell, Rowen," Nikki spat.

"Enter the alibi."

"Bite me," Nikki retorted. Rowen gave her an insolent grin.

"Sorry sweetheart, not today." Nikki fumed but Mia reached over and touched her arm to calm her.

"Alright Rowen," Mia said softly, "What do you want me to say? What do you think I'm hiding?"

"How about more than 'gee something really bad is happening'? Why did you deny knowing what happened upstairs? Why are you lying to us? And what's up with _her_? What part does she play?" He gestured at Nikki. Mia looked for a long time at Rowen before speaking again. This time her voice was deadly soft and her eyes never left Rowen.

"Why Rowen? I'll tell you why. What's your worst fear? What is so bad that you can't possibly imagine anything that could be worse? Take that, that fear, and multiply it by a thousand and make it so twisted and terrible that all you want to do is tear your eyes out so you can't see it anymore and rip your eardrums apart so you can't hear it anymore, and even when you do, all you know is that demented terror. Do you really want me to tell you who's blood it is covering the walls up there? Do you want me to tell you which spot is you, and which is Sage? And the rest of you? Exactly the expressions on your face when he ripped you up piece by piece, screaming? Because I DON'T!" At the end Mia's voice cracked and she started crying. Nikki leaned over and wrapped her arms around Mia. The others sat there, saying nothing.

"This guy is bad news," Kento eventually said. He stood and went to the couch, putting an arm around Mia's shoulders. She tensed momentarily then leaned into him. Her fingers drifted up to her necklace, clutching it tightly. She quickly got a hold of herself and pulled away from Kento.

"That's why I have to go out to that site," she stated, wiping her eyes roughly. "Anything new that might help…there's nothing in my grandfather's files about this thing. We need information. We have to go."

The guys looked at each other then to Ryo. He closed his eyes briefly then looked at Mia.

"Alright, but you aren't going alone. White Blaze and Sage are going with you. Rowen too."

"Why him?" Nikki yelped.

"Why me?" Rowen demanded. Ryo gave them both a pointed look.

"Because you know more about the research stuff than we do, Rowen, and I need someone who can sense this guy with both of us. Sage goes with you and Cye stays with me and Kento." Ryo grinned slightly. "Plus there's going to be a lot of walking and Cye may not be up to it yet."

"Go bugger off," Cye snapped. Ryo just grinned back at him.

"Fine but we leave now," Nikki declared. She turned to Rowen and snapped her fingers twice. "Chop chop blue boy."

Ryo laughed as Rowen rolled his eyes and followed the girls reluctantly out of the room. He laughed again at the look Sage gave him. Cye was still glaring at him as well.

Ryo turned to Kento, and said, "Well buddy, at least we're still cool."

Kento laughed and thumped fists with Ryo. "Yeah, just don't throw me in the lake." They watched in amusement as Nikki and Rowen snipped at each other all the way to the car, glad that they at least were out of it.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N Sorry it took 2 weeks to update, but hopefully I made up for it with a longer chapter this time. No school for 6 weeks so I don't have any excuses for not updating:P I just wanted to remind everyone that they should drop by Samurai Fanservice if they get the chance. It's a forum created by Ghost of the Dawn and Dixxy dedicated to keeping our little fandom together. I have a link to it at my account page. I do not own the Ronin Warriors and constructive criticism is always welcome. Hope you like!

**Courting the Jester**

Chapter Eight

Hush little baby, don't say a word  
Never mind that noise you heard  
It's just the beasts under your bed  
In your closet, in your head

-Metallica "Enter Sandman"

"Remind me to thank Ryo later for this wonderful time," Rowen muttered sourly under his breath to Sage. Sage glanced over at his friend but didn't respond. Next to him Rowen marched grumpily, a large pack of equipment swung over his shoulder. Sage too was carrying some stuff as the two men followed Mia and Nikki deeper into the forest, but his load wasn't as heavy as his friend's. Rowen grunted loudly and deliberately as he shifted his burden to his other shoulder. Ahead the girls ignored him, heads together as they hiked, whispering in low voices. The packs on their backs were much smaller than the ones the guys carried.

"And remind me to never pack like a girl," Rowen continued, raising his voice slightly. "They never know how much crap is entirely unnecessary." He was rewarded by being ignored even more completely.

"You know Rowen, you're the one that volunteered to carry all that stuff. You didn't have too, you know," Sage reminded him mildly.

"Right Sage," Rowen snorted irritably. "Like we were going to let them hike all the way up here carrying that much stuff and not help. You would have had an apoplexy. You would have been on the ground frothing at the mouth and biting your ankles, scratching the word 'honor' over and over again in the dirt with bloody fingernails. We couldn't have that, now could we?"

"Why are you a scientist Rowen?" Sage wondered aloud. "You seem more the overboard theatrical type these days."

"Because deep down, our little blueberry here is just a born drama queen," Nikki suddenly spoke up, grinning at Rowen over her shoulder. He paused in between steps, face flushing, then his eyes narrowed angrily.

"Don't call me that," Rowen growled. Nikki turned around and gave him her most innocent face.

"Okay, Snappy."

"Don't call me that either!"

"But you're such a cute little smurfling…"

"Carry your own crap, Nik," Rowen said suddenly, sliding the pack off his shoulder and letting it drop heavily to the ground. Nikki yelped and rushed back, opening the pack at Rowen's feet and rummaging through it worriedly.

"You idiot," she snapped at him, pulling out the laptop and examining it closely. "Do you have any idea how expensive this stuff is? If the computer doesn't work right, then the rest of our instruments won't either! You out of everyone should know that!"

Rowen shrugged and continued up the trail, towards their destination. Nikki placed the computer very gently back in the pack and zipped it up, positioning the heavy load over her shoulder. She grunted when she stood but ignored Sage's offered hand. She glared at Rowen's back but said nothing about the weight.

"Let me help you with that," Sage started to say quietly but the dark haired woman shook her head curtly and started marching up the trail. Sage sighed. The stubborn expression on her face was a mirror image of Rowen's. This was going to be a long day.

They were deep in the wilderness, many miles from Mia's home. The site was supposedly so deep in that the only way to get any equipment there was to hump it on their backs. They had brought food and water, and a change of clothing since they would be there overnight. On the initial part of the trail they had met up with three colleagues of Mia's just returning from the site. They had spoke privately with Mia and had looked very concerned, but Mia had seemed to calm them and they had continued on. To Sage they had looked very strained and had given off feelings of nervousness. He had paid close attention to their surroundings ever since.

They had hiked maybe ten miles into the hills, and the trail was becoming increasingly steep. Every so often they would have to climb over fallen trees and large boulders in their way. As they continued now, the trail was getting rougher, twisting and turning to avoid natural barriers. The path had become an increasingly deeper gully, its sides rising as they walked. Nikki struggled a little under the weight of the pack, but batted away Sage's hand every time he tried to offer assistance.

"Not much farther guys," Mia called from up front, glancing down at her compass as she walked. It should be right…here." Her voice trailed off as she turned a bend and disappeared from sight, Rowen following closely. Sage and Nikki went around the bend to findMia staring upwards in dismay. The gully stretched on into the distance and both sides were difficult vertical climbs. The temple they were searching for obviously wasn't down here, so it had to be up there.

"Well, they said it wasn't easy to get to," Mia muttered, standing with her hands planted on her hips, pursing her mouth thoughtfully. "The others said that they had to get one person up and then drop down ropes for the equipment."

Nikki approached behind her, a concerned look in her eyes, sagging slightly underneath the load she bore.

"We have to be careful about that, Mia," Nikki said, "The equipment in here is a lot more delicate than thethings they were hauling around. One wrong jar and a hundred thousand dollars worth of analytical instruments are going to be worthless. We need this stuff to survive the trip."

"I know, Nik, I know. How about-" Mia had just started when Rowen and Sage solved the problem for her. Sage secured the pack on his shoulders before jumping lightly on the largest boulder. He scanned the walls for any good grips or outcroppings. Finding none, Sage took a deep breath and crouched down, hands resting lightly on the rock underneath him. Then with a strong push, he leapt up in the air, angling so that he came in contact with the wall about halfway up. Sage smoothly shifted in the air so that his feet hit flat, allowing him to push off again. This time he topped the gully and landed lightly on the balls of his feet. He looked around and called down.

"Wrong side, Rowen. Come up the other way." Rowen nodded and wrapped an arm around Mia's waist securely. Startled at the suddenness of it, Mia gasped as she was suddenly rushing through the air and bouncing off rocky walls. Rowen grunted and pushed off the wall the same way Sage had, only landing on the opposite side of the gully. They hit the ground with a slight jar, and Rowen grinned at her, shrugging. Mia just shook her head and tried to get her bearings. Sage appeared next to them, obviously having jumped the distance. He pointed to the west and they all saw a smooth rock sticking out of a bunch of vegetation. The rock looked too smooth and even to be natural. Mia immediately made a beeline for it.

"Hey, did you guys forget something?" a voice called from below, sounding a bit petulant. Rowen looked at Sage, a mischievous grin splitting his face. Sage gave his friend a stern look.

"No Touma."

"But Seiji-"

"No."

Rowen sighed and followed Sage back down into the gully. Instead of looking amazed at them for their ability to jump so high, Nikki looked irritated. Sage grabbed the pack she'd set down before Rowen had a chance to. He gave his friend a quick smirk before jumping back up top. Rowen mentally sighed and turned to look at Nikki.

"You better not drop me," she said menacingly. Rowen came up and put one arm around her waist, shaking his head.

"Trust me, sweetheart, if I was going to be responsible for putting you out of your misery, I'd do it in a much more emotionally satisfying way. Like running you over with a mack-truck or something."

"Out of my misery?" Nikki yelped indignantly, followed by a breath of surprise as she was suddenly flying through the air without warning.

"Maybe _my_ misery," Rowen muttered as he pushed off the wall halfway up. The rock slipped underneath his foot, killing his momentum and causing them to land heavily. Rowen stepped back to regain his balance, drawing Nikki with him.

_He stepped back, regaining his balance, pulling her with him. She yelped in surprise, clinging to him in fear. She saw that nothing was underneath their feet and cried out, clenching her eyes shut and waiting to feel the rocks beneath them crush her to death upon impact. Then she heard him chuckle slightly and she hesitantly opened her eyes. They were floating, drifting slowly away from where he'd stepped off. They were floating. He grinned down at her. She thumped his arm painfully and glared at him. _

"_Showoff," she muttered. _

Rowen stepped back in surprise as the sudden memory took hold of him.

"Showoff," Nikki grunted irritably, pulling away from him and turning her back on him. Rowen watched her walk away towards the remaining pack, shaking her head and muttering to herself. Rowen shook his own head followed uncertainly. He said nothing as he stepped past Nikki, grabbing up her heavy pack as he went, and followed Sage and Mia through the vegetation. He pretended to ignore Nikki's eyes on him, but was eerily aware of them.

"Rowen look!" Mia suddenly exclaimed. Rowen hurried forward and saw what had made Mia so excited. She had reached the smooth rock and had pulled aside the heavy vines that grew draped all around it. Strange linear marking ran all over one side of the rock, twisting and turning until your eye got lost in the pattern. But that wasn't what had Mia so excited. Beyond the rock, guarded by two more of those same strange marked rocks, sat a cave. And in front of the cave, sat Kayura.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kento strained against the heavy tree that had fallen over into Mia's yard, grunting with exertion. Finally he heard a loud crack deep within the wood and about half of its thirty-foot height snapped off. Kento cursed and lost his balance, tilting under the lighter weight of the shortened tree. He straightened and hoisted the length over his shoulders, carrying it towards a huge pile he'd made on the beach of Mia's lake. He'd wanted to get the whole overturned tree out with one big yank, and therefore would have had more leverage to get the roots to come too. Now it would be twice as hard. Kento aimed for the existing brush pile and heaved the partial tree. It landed on top with a resounding crunch. Brushing his hands off on his jeans, Kento squatted down to take a quick rest.

Kento had worked all day to get Mia's place looking better, and thus far it felt as if he hadn't made much progress. When that shockwave had hit, it had not just downed trees; it had weakened existing ones. Some looked ready to come down at any minute, and Kento didn't think that was very safe. The last thing he wanted was to have a tree trunk come crashing through Mia's wall in the middle of the night. She had enough to worry about without that.

"Hey buddy, do you need any help?" Ryo suddenly asked from right behind Kento. Kento jumped, slightly startled, then grinned over his shoulder at his friend.

"Man, I'm getting jumpy," he laughed. "I didn't hear you coming. Sure, help would be great. I don't seem to be making too much progress so far."

Ryo sat down in the grass next to Kento, looking at the huge pile of brush and timber. A gleam came to his eyes.

"Hey, Kento…you planning on burning all that?" he asked, trying to mask his eagerness.

"Yeah, and go for it pyro." Kento laughed again and reached over to clap Ryo on the shoulder brotherly. Ryo grinned and stood up, walking towards the wood. The smile was starting to slip off of Kento's face, becoming confusion and concern.

Up at the house White Blaze started to growl.

"Umm…Ryo? My hand just went _through_ you dude." Ryo seemed to not be paying attention. He kept his back to Kento, and slowly stretched out his hand. Cupped in his palm was a tiny little flame, flickering uncertainly in the protection of his fingers.

"So small," Ryo whispered, raising his hand slightly. The tone of his voice was almost reverent. "So small but so powerful. They don't deserve you, do they? They don't appreciate you."

"Ryo…? Are you talking to your hand?" Kento took a hesitant step forward.

"They don't know what strength you possess." The flicker started to grow into a decent sized flame.

"Ryo! That's _fire_, man! Isn't it burning you?" Kento asked, astonished. It was one thing for Ryo to play in fire with his armor on, but he'd never done something like this before, to the best of Kento's knowledge.

"Would you like to teach them little one?" Ryo asked in a sultry whisper. His hand burst into flames. Tendrils of fire rolled down his forearm, wrapping around his bicep. Ryo started laughing, a wild laugh that sounded off in Kento's mind. Suddenly Kento understood and jumped back, gear snapping in place around his body.

"Okay dude, I don't know who you are, but I know you definitely aren't Ryo. Ryo threw his head back and continued laughing, raising his arms up, letting the fire sweep across his chest to the other arm.

"What are you, some kind of fire-demon?" Kento demanded angrily. "Huh? Well I don't care. But I'm going to kick your ass for whatever it is you guys did to Mia last night!" Ryo turned around, an expression of wonder and exhilaration on his face. His eyes reflected the flame, making Kento shiver.

"Look at it Kento!" Ryo cried out loud. "Isn't it beautiful? Isn't it _perfect_?"

"Kento!" From the house Kento heard Cye calling his name, but he kept his eyes trained on the creature in front of him.

"Okay buddy, time to lose the Ryo shape, cause it's not working anymore." Kento lunged out at the figure, his fist connecting with Ryo's chest. Kento watched in shock as his arm disappeared up to his elbow in his friend's chest. Through his friend's chest. Into his chest cavity. Into him.

"Oh god…" Kento whispered. The gleam of exhilaration in Ryo's eyes turned to a dull look of shock, and then betrayal. Blood started to pour out of his chest, running down Kento's arm in a macabre version of the flames that Ryo had just played with. Kento felt something thud against his hand once, then once again, and then it stopped. Ryo's face went white and his eyes rolled up into his head, body collapsing.

"Ryo?" Kento cried out, watching in abject horror as the body of his friend and leader slid with a sickening noise off of the arm impaling it. Kento's arm. His arm. He killed Ryo. _Oh no…._

The sound that came out of Kento was one of absolute despair. He tried to scream but it caught in his throat as he held the now limp body of Ryo in his arms.

_NO!_

The mental scream of anguish slammed into Cye, almost knocking him down. He stumbled forward against it, and the invisible heat that sought to keep him away. Fighting, Cye made it to Kento's side to find his friend rocking back and forth, clutching something bloody to his chest, weeping openly.

"Kento!" Cye tried, falling to his knees beside Kento.

"I killed him!" Kento wept brokenly.

"Kento!"

"I…I _killed_ him!" Kento sobbed, rocking faster and clutching the bloody mess closer. "I KILLED HIM!"

"KENTO!" Cye grabbed Kento's face and forced him to look up. "Kento! It's a blanket!"

"I…I…"

"It's a blanket Kento. A bloody blanket. There's nothing there. You didn't kill anyone." Cye grabbed the thing out of Kento's arms and held it up, shaking it. "See? See Kento?"

"I…I…" Kento stared wildly at the bloody blanket for a moment, then he started to slow his rocking. He reached out and took it from Cye, turning the mess over and over in his hands.

"No one's dead, Kento," Cye whispered. "You're okay."

"Ryo…"

"He's fine. He's right behind me. Look behind me Kento." Kento turned his tearstained face up to see that Ryo was in fact standing behind Cye, a look of confusion and concern on his face. Kento looked back down at the rag in his hand and turned it over once again. There was a small tag that signified it wasn't the blanket Cye had thought, buthad once been a piece of clothing. Something he used to know.

_Bloody clothes. They were everywhere…_

"Kento? Are you alright?" This time it was Ryo who knelt down next to his friend, touching him gently. Kento had gone completely still. Finally he raised dark angry eyes and scanned the land around them.

"Where are you, you son of a bitch?" Kento growled. Painfully he rose to his feet and roared furiously. "Where ARE you!"

"Kento…" Cye started but was cut off by gentle laughter.

"_Poor Kento…didn't you like tearing into his chest? Didn't you like feeling him die around you? His heart stopping? One…two…buckle my shoe…three…four…sleep with that whore…five…six…rip her to bits…" _

It was a different Kento that turned to where the voice was coming from, his words deadly quiet. "If you touch her again I _will_ kill you."

The voice laughed as it dissipated.

"_Too late." _

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kento? Who did you mean back there? What 'her' were you talking about?" Ryo leaned forward as he asked the question. Kento merely shook his head, staring down at the floor. From where he sat on the couch, a blanket wrapped tightly around his shoulders, the Ronin of Hardrock looked shaken. He adjusted the blanket closer, eyes slightly glazed.

"Kento, this is important," Cye interjected gently. "If that guy was talking about Mia or Nikki, then they might be in trouble. We'd need to find them."

Kento remained silent for a long time before raising his face to stare out the window. The brush pile remained standing tall, a disconcerting reminder of the afternoon's occurrences. His dark eyes looked troubled, and older then Ryo or Cye ever remembering them being. Finally Kento spoke, his normally boisterous voice subdued and thick.

"I think that maybe Rowen isn't going crazy." Ryo and Cye exchanged a look.

"What do you mean Kento?" Ryo asked cautiously. Tip toeing around Hardrock wasn't something he was used to doing, and Ryo found it disturbing.

"Rowen keeps saying he's hearing stuff and seeing stuff. That he knows things that he shouldn't. I didn't get it, not before. But when that…that _thing_ was out there saying that stuff, I understood what he meant. I knew why he was saying the things he was saying and showing me the things he was showing me. I was so angry…"

"What did he mean?" Cye pressed, then immediately regretted it. Kento's face darkened into an expression of fury and frustration.

"I don't know Cye! I don't know anymore! Which doesn't make any sense." Kento looked as if he wanted to punch the nearest inanimate object, but he settled for grabbing up a pillow and twisting it fiercely. "He hurt someone, that's not surprising. We all heard what he said. But when he was talking, all I felt was this overwhelming rage that he had hurt so many things that I cared about. That this sick bastard had…"

"What Kento? You need to tell us." Ryo asked, pushing his friend even more. He knew they should back off but worry for the others outweighed his concern for Kento. Hardrock was strong, and Ryo was relying on him holding it together.

"That he had done stuff that was horrible. That we all should know. That _I _knew. But I don't anymore. I don't get it. I don't understand, and I'm starting to sound like Rowen. Only I'm not mad at Nikki and Mia. I'm…scared for them."

"You're being vague and cryptic Kento. We need more to work with, here. Is he going after them Kento?" Cye asked his comrade. A flicker of something unrecognizable flashed in Kento's eyes; something that made Cye pull back a little.

"Not right now," Kento spat. "Right now it's more fun to screw with us."

"Fun?"

"Yeah."

"Kento, how do you know this stuff?" Ryo wondered. "Why now?" Kento didn't reply, but his mind kept racing back to the thought that had torn through his head earlier.

_Bloody clothes. They were everywhere…_

"I feel like we failed," Kento finally whispered, giving the pillow a twist, knuckles white.

"What do you mean?" Cye cut in confused. "We haven't even really fought this guy yet." Kento turned to stare at both of them intently.

"Are you sure?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That is the freakiest thing I've ever seen."

"Rowen…"

"I mean, the original version of her was bad enough, but this is just…" Rowen shuddered. Sage gave him a look that spoke volumes. Rowen ignored it and continued to walk around the center statue in front of the cave, taking in every detail.

"It's like if you take every single aspect of Kayura and make them creepy, then here you go. Step up gentlemen and take a look. Fifty cents a shot. Try not to pee your pants."

"Rowen," Mia asked sweetly from where she knelt next to the statue, "could you hold off the diatribe until I'm finished? Please?" Rowen shrugged and stopped pacing, but continued to stare at the statue. He tilted his head to the side. Sage started mentally counting down. _Three…two…one…_

"But it's just so freaking scary-"

"Rowen!"

"Fine, fine, sorry, I'm shutting up." Rowen raised his hands defensively and stepped away from where Mia was examining the topic of subject. He walked past Sage and gave him a wink. Sage barely kept himself from rolling his eyes. He had to admit, though, Rowen had a point.

It was a statue. It was Kayura. But it…well _wasn't_. Her face was the same, her body was the same, her hair and robes were the same. The statue was life-sized and looked like marble or some other kind of pearly stone. The last of the ancients was posed serenely in a cross-legged mediation position. Across her lap she held a carved book, which was what Mia was now examining. What had Rowen's attention, all of their attentions really, was the expression on her face. They had seen Kayura angry, scared, relieved, exhausted, possessed, and determined. They had seen her rejoice in happiness and cry in despair. They had never seen her like this. This statue of the ancient looked, for lack of a better word, _hungry_. Her face was raised, her eyes were narrowed, and a small little grin quirked her mouth. There was nothing overtly different, but the feeling Sage got as they stood there in front of the statue was one of discomfort. Looking too long at her made the hair on back of Sage's neck rise. _Hungry…_ Sage couldn't help himself and he too shuddered.

"Grow up," Nikki said as she passed by, throwing Rowen a condescending look. "It's just a piece of stone." Rowen didn't deign to reply, but he did move to position himself where the statue wasn't watching him, which happened to be right next to Sage.

"So, fun trip so far, huh?" Rowen asked him. Sage crossed his arms. Rowen grinned. "That means, 'I hate being here, I'd rather be at home playing Parcheesi, and I blame you even though I have too much class to say it.' See, I know you better than you know yourself."

"It actually means, 'I have no problem not responding because you talk enough for all four of us. And I blame you for being here, because you insist on picking fights with little girls and I have to baby-sit you because of it. And I hate Parcheesi." Sage said lightly. Rowen's eyes widened.

"Little girl? You've got to be kidding me! Don't let her short stature lull you into a false sense of security, Sage. She's the scientific American equivalent of a viper." Rowen made several hissing noises and imitated a snake striking with his hand. "And don't lie. You do too like Parcheesi."

This time Sage couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Sure Rowen."

"Not that there's anything wrong with Parcheesi. I mean, personally I think it's a stupid game, but hey, whatever floats your boat my friend."

"Rowen…" Sage sighed the sigh of one who knows that they will never be able to escape some travesty in their life. He moved towards Mia and Nikki, both of which were examining some etchings at the bottom of the statue. Rowen followed.

"I prefer Yatzee myself. Much more satisfying game. Or Euchre. Can't go wrong with a good game of Euchre."

"Doesn't he ever shut up?" Nikki asked grumpily.

"Rarely," Sage replied, kneeling down next to Mia. Rowen gave him a hurt look.

"Et tu Brute?" he asked dramatically.

"Go ahead and give yourself a good push," Nikki told Rowen. He glared at her and walked off, muttering. Sage gave her an amused look.

"You two never stop do you?" he asked her. Nikki blushed slightly, then shrugged.

"He makes me mad."

"He shouldn't. He hasn't done anything," Sage gently admonished her. Nikki met his gaze for a moment then dropped her eyes, lips thinning irritably.

"Okay Mia, did you make anything of any of this?" Nikki asked her friend. Mia sat back on her heels and brushed a strand of red hair back from her face.

"Not really. I need more time. But I think whatever book it is that the ancient is holding is important. Hopefully it's somewhere in there." Mia gestured to the dark cave behind them.

"Why do you think that they have a statue of her here, Mia?" Sage asked, running a hand over the stone. Something vibrated in his mind and Sage pulled his hand away quickly.

"I'm not sure, Sage," Mia answered truthfully. "But at least the time period seems to be right. I need Nikki to verify it more precisely. I think it's more important to find out why they have the ancient depicted in this way. That's the biggest mystery to me." Mia stood and brushed the dirt off of her jeans, looking around. She seemed puzzled.

"You know, I really didn't expect the site to look like this," she said. "I thought it would be different. I thought there would be more here."

"Like what?" Nikki asked, also rising.

"Like more civilization. More buildings. They could be buried, but…I just expected more." Mia shrugged and started gathering up her stuff. "Oh well, we make due with what we have. The others said that they didn't go very far into the cave. They spent their time on the entrance and the first part of the cave. They think it's some kind of temple. I think maybe they're right. Anything that has the ancient guarding it..."

Mia pulled out a large flashlight and flipped it on, shouldering her pack and headed into the cave. Nikki followed her, digging through her things to find her own flashlight.

"Hey, blueberry, did you take my light?" Nikki demanded. Rowen retorted and the two of them began arguing again as they disappeared into the cave as well. Sage remained where he was for a moment, looking down at the statue. Kayura. He placed his hand once more on the statue and this time it vibrated deeper. Sage closed his eyes, letting himself sink into the feeling of it.

"_Stop it! Stop it, you're hurting him! Stop it! You guys are friends! This isn't right!"_

"_Friends don't do this…friends…They don't do THIS!" _

"_Oh god, he's killing him! Stop!"_

Snap!

"_Oh god, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"_

"_Pick one! Pick or they both die!"_

"_I can't! I CAN'T!"_

"…_I can…"_

"_NO!"_

Sage jerked away from the statue, head reeling. His hand hurt where he'd placed it on the stone. He realized he was breathing heavily and his head was starting to hurt.

"Hey Sage!" he heard Rowen yell. "Stop staring at the ancient and get in here! You have to see this stuff!" Sage stepped back and raised a hand to his friend, indicating he was coming. He leaned down and grabbed his own pack eyes scanning the area around them. As he stepped away, he couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't the only one watching the woods.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ryo sat against the side of Mia's study, looking at the walls and trying to see what it was that the others were seeing. To him everything was the same. Everything felt the same. In the doorway crouched his tiger, tail flicking. The big animal refused to step into the room, despite coaxing from his owner. Every once in a while he would growl and stare at the ceiling, then his eyes would flicker back and forth about the room. Ryo shook his head. Even White Blaze was going crazy on him.

Everything was changing. Every_one_ was changing. Mia was aloof and withdrawn. Rowen was angry and delusional. Cye was reading people's minds and emotions and didn't seem aware he was doing it. Kento was seeing things that neither him nor Cye could see. Cye and Sage were seeing thing only Mia and Nikki could see. And White Blaze looked like he was ready to attack the wall that Ryo was leaning against. His world was crashing around him. Oddly enough instead of upsetting him greatly, Ryo simply kept getting feelings of déjà vu, like this had all happened to him before. He guessed that it had. Every time they had to go off and fight evil, things changed. They developed new strengths and weaknesses. The stress from fighting so much was eventually going to take its toll on them all.

Ryo was worried about Mia. Deep in his gut he had the feeling that something very bad was going to happen soon, and he was regretting sending her out there with only two of them for protection. He thought about what she had said before they left.

"…there's nothing in my grandfather's files about this thing. We need information. We have to go."

"You never bothered to look Mia," Ryo whispered. White Blaze started to growl again, deeper this time. Blaze stared right at Ryo, tail flicking back and forth rapidly.

"_That's because she has looked, little one."_ _He_ settled down in front of Ryo, sitting crossed legged and making himself comfortable.

"Even you don't know everything in all those databases. You might have forgotten something," Ryo shook his head.

_He_ laughed and cracked his knuckles_. "She searched and searched, but to no avail. You kept asking her, sweeting, but she couldn't find what she knew wasn't there. Too bad, so sad."_

Ryo shook his head, unaware that the action smeared a chunk of mostly dried blood into his hair.

_He_ grinned and leaned over, gingerly picking the gristle out of Ryo's hair, before settling back.

In the doorway White Blaze's growl turned into a vicious snarl and the tiger bared his teeth.

"Blaze!" Ryo said sternly. "Nothing's here! Calm down buddy."

_He_ turned around and made a face at the tiger. The tiger fixed a death glare on _him_.

"Anyways White Blaze, try to relax okay? Mia's going into that cave and she's going to find something to help us fight this thing. So don't worry." Ryo stood and left the room, not hearing the crunching underneath his feet. Ryo passed by White Blaze and ran his hand soothingly down the animal's back, flicking the light off. The tiger remained where he was crouched, snarling into the darkness. As Ryo did, _He_ turned around and watched Ryo go. Then _He_ crawled on all fours, gingerly picking his way through the mess on the floor until _He_ was face to face with the huge animal. White Blaze showed his long sharp teeth. _His_ face split in a huge grin and _He_ did the same. The tiger shivered but held his ground.

"Come on Blaze, let's go to bed." Ryo reached over _Him_ and grabbed the doorknob, pulling the door closed. _He_ waved his fingers goodbye at the tiger until the door was almost closed. Then _He_ blew Blaze a kiss before being shut up in darkness. The tiger shivered more visibly this time but rose and followed Ryo to the bedroom. There was nothing White Blaze could do but stay by his master's side, and to try to get Ryo to understand that _He_ was watching. And waiting. Even now.

The tiger growled at the ceiling over Ryo's bed the entire night long until the tired and irritable Ronin of Wildfire finally kicked him out. Ryo slept peacefully after that. _He_ found it all very amusing.

-

-

A/N #2 I had this done yesterday for you guys but the doc manager wasn't working right. Sorry!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N Hello everyone! This might be a little confusing because there are a lot of flashback scenes in here. If anyone has any questions they're welcome to message me with them. There is a reference to Ghost of the Dawn's fic Guardian Souls in here. Kudos to anyone who can catch it. (Hope you don't mind Ty-Chou, if you do I'll take it out.) Hopefully I've answered a few questions as to what's going on. I don't own the Ronin Warriors and constructive criticism is always welcome.

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter Nine

_It was one of those days that make you cringe and wish that you were home already, but unfortunately the young man walking down the street had no choice in the matter. His head was bent as he hurried along, the hood on his sweatshirt pulled up to try to keep the rain off. The material had long since soaked through, and it didn't keep him dry so much as kept him at a slower increase of wetness. Overhead the dark clouds rolled ominously, but this young man knew that it was only a storm passing through. Instincts that warned him of danger remained quiet. He shivered as water dribbled down the back of his neck, and tried to draw his clothes around him a bit tighter. The rain decided to fall in sheets, pounding the ground around him. Cursing the young man gave up and dashed in the direction of a nearby shop, and the scant protection of the small awning above its entrance. The store was closed, as was the rest of them down the street, so he was forced to huddle against the cold stone of the building's wall, arms crossed and bouncing up and down rhythmically to try to keep himself warmer. He cursed again as the rain continued to sheet, knowing that he would be stuck here for a while. A warrior he may be, but that didn't mean that he wasn't susceptible to colds and fevers and pneumonia like the rest of the populace. He sighed and shrunk closer to the wall, head bent._

_The jingle of the store door opening startled him, as did the blonde head that poked out and turned to him. _

"_Well are you just going to stand there and freeze or are you going to come inside?" a voice asked lightly, the smile on her face taking the sting out of the words. He looked at her in surprise, but the head had already disappeared back inside the store. He glanced at the sign on the window and saw that he was in front of a small bookstore. A large boom of thunder motivated him to follow her inside. _

_As soon as he stepped through the door, the smell of old books hit him. It reminded him of going with his mother to the huge old library back home, before they had moved to the city with it's newer renovated libraries. He breathed deep, enjoying the smell of his past, then he looked around. It was exactly what he would have expected of a little "hole in the wall" bookstore. Shelves lined the walls, stuffed full of new and used books, shiny and worn covers. A tall ladder leaned against one wall for access to the higher shelves, and sprinkled around the room were old overstuffed chairs, their seats and backs worn with use. They just begged him to sit in them. He couldn't help a small smile of pleasure. _

_A low growl behind him startled him out of his reverie, and he turned quickly. Resting on the floor was a medium sized dog, scruffy with patchy black and white coloring. He growled again warningly at the young man but remained where he was, one blue eye and one brown watching the intruder carefully. _

_"Easy," the young man whispered, opening his hands flat at his sides and trying to appear non-threatening. The dog looked like hewasn't buying it. _

_"Chili quit it," came that same voice, and the girl appeared from a door in the back, a blanket in her arms. The dog barked once then grunted, casting a disparaging look at the young man before turning around and laying with his head facing the other way disapprovingly. He couldn't help but laugh._

_"I don't think your dog likes me," he said with a chuckle. The girl smiled and shook her head, walking up to the young man and handing him the blanket. He noticed that she had beautiful blue eyes but didn't seem to want to look directly at him. He figured she might be nervous having invited a stranger into her shop on a day when no one else was around and he tried his best to appear non-threatening to her as well._

_"Oh Chili doesn't like anybody. He's a grumpy old man," she said affectionately. Across the room a long tail lazily thumped the floor in a semblance of a wag, with as little effort expended as possible. "But he does his job well. Why don't you dry off, you're probably freezing." _

_He smiled at her thoughtfulness and stepped to the other side of the room, turning his back to her as he slipped off his soaked sweatshirt. The shirt underneath wasn't much better but he kept it on and wrapped the blanket thankfully around his shoulders. She had already disappeared back through the door, so he wasn't sure where he should put his wet sweatshirt. He finally decided to just keep it under his arm so the water didn't ruin anything. He shivered again, and hoped he didn't end up with a head cold from this. She came back, this time carrying a tray with two cups and a teapot on it. He jumped forward to help her, to take the tray from her, but she didn't seem to expect it and was startled when he tried. She dropped the tray and he deftly caught before too much hot water spilled out. She blushed, embarrassed, and turned away. He tried to smile at her to ease her discomfort but she was already looking anywhere else but him._

_"I'm sorry, I didn't-"_

_"I'm sorry, I was just trying to-" They both spoke at the same time and stopped. Then she laughed, a beautiful light sound and he couldn't help flushing slightly. She was very pretty. _

_"Sit down," she said, gesturing behind her to two chairs with a tiny end table between them. _

_"Thank you," he said, trying to remember his manners. Her golden hair caught highlights in the dim light of the room and he found it exceedingly distracting. She sat and smoothed the simple skirt she was wearing, staring down at her lap. He tried to make up for his earlier blunder by making them the tea. _

_"Thank you for letting me in," he said while pouring the steaming water into the cup next to her. "I didn't expect anyone to be around at this time. Usually the stores are all closed by now."_

_She chuckled but remained staring at her lap. It was starting to disconcert him a little. He wasn't used to people that refused to make any eye contact._

_"Yes well, Chili and I don't get out much and you never know when a customer might drop in." He handed her the cup of tea but she didn't reach for it. Confused he set it back down next to her. She immediately reached for it and took a small sip, now watching the cup. _

_"This is a nice place here," he tried again, feeling very foolish. "Do you read a lot, then?" _

_She laughed again and tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose I do." Finally she seemed to take a small breath and looked directly up at him. He was startled at just how beautiful the girl in front of him was, with her brilliant blue eyes staring at…nothing. She was staring at nothing because she was blind._

_"What was your name?" she asked him softly. He stared at her for a long minute, then caught himself._

_"Cye. My name is Cye."_

_"Cye." She smiled as she said his name, almost as if she was rolling the word around on her tongue. "My name is Cassie." Then she glanced away again. On impulse he leaned forward and gently took her hand. Her fingers were slim under his, and she didn't pull away. Something inside him twinged and he closed his fingers around hers protectively._

"_It's very nice to meet you Cassie…" _

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"I can see him. Why can I see him?"_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"_Stop it! Stop it, you're hurting him! Stop it! You guys are friends! This isn't right!"_

"_Friends don't do this…friends…They don't do THIS!" _

"_Oh god, he's killing him! Stop!"_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sage woke up with a start, gasping. He sat straight up and looked around him, disoriented. He took several deep ragged breaths, realizing that he'd broken out in a sweat. He leaned forward and forced himself to breath slower, making himself calm down. It was dark all around them and it was another long moment before Sage realized where he was. They were in the cave, deep enough that there wasn't any light that could pierce them here. The dim glow of a lantern between Nikki and Mia was the only source of illumination, casting a greenish tinge to their faces but not making it to the walls. Rowen he could feel behind him to his left. Rowen was awake as well.

Sage turned and looked over his shoulder, picking out his friend's shape in the darkness. Rowen had risen to a sitting position and was going back and forth between staring towards the entrance of the cave and down into the depths of it. Where they had camped out was about a fifteen-minute walk in, the cave barely clearing the tops of Rowen's and his heads. It was wide enough for them to walk abreast of each other, but they had paired off for the sleeping arrangements. Consequently the girls were closer to the entrance of the cave and the guys to the depths of it. Rowen rose and silently moved to where Nikki and Mia lay. He positioned himself between them and the entrance of the cave. Sage silently stood and did the same on the opposite side. He didn't ask Rowen what he was doing or why, he just trusted that his comrade had a reason. He heard a click behind him and knew Rowen had put on his undergear. Sage did the same and then waited. And waited.

Click.

This time it wasn't Rowen. Sage searched for the source of the noise but couldn't hear anything.

Click.

This time it was louder, and closer. Sage cast around, his sharp eyes piercing the darkness around them. He saw nothing except themselves.

**Click**.

It was right behind him. Rowen cried out a warning just as Sage swung around and found himself face to face with…Kayura? She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling from under blue bangs.

"Hello Halo, it's been a while. Have you missed me?" At the question she laughed and struck Sage a crushing blow in the chest, throwing him backwards into the wall of the tunnel. He grunted as he hit, falling to one knee.

"Come on Ronin, is that the best you can do?" she taunted cruelly. "And here I thought that you had these new _powerful_ armors. Guess I was mistaken." She ambled up to Sage, slowly drawing out twin swords, enjoying the shriek of steel on steel. Suddenly Rowen was between her and Sage, body in a defensive stance.

"Kayura!" Sage gasped from behind Rowen, stumbling to his feet. "What are you doing? You're good now!"

"This isn't Kayura, Sage," Rowen growled. She smiled at Rowen and looked down. When she looked up she had Mia's face.

"What's wrong?" Mia asked sadly. "Don't you trust me anymore Rowen? All I ever wanted to do was protect you…"

"Stop it, witch, or whatever you are!" Rowen yelled. "It won't work!" He lunged at her but the thing deftly avoided his blow and whirled around. This time she took the face of Rowen's mother, caring but distracted.

"Not now Rowen," she said irritably. "I have more important things I need to do." Then she tried to leap past him. Rowen swung around and managed to keep her away from Sage. He kicked out at her and was knocked down. He hit the ground heavily on his back and she leapt on him. This time it was a dark haired girl's face that loomed above him, eyes dark and worried.

"Rowen? Rowen? You don't think that I'm _bad_ do you? Rowen please…" His head suddenly swum with images and feelings.

"_Rowen? Please say something! Anything! Just…Rowen please!"_

Rowen snarled, confused and angry, and he gripped the thing on top of him and threw it back with a powerful shove. Kayura now laughed at him, her face cruel to behold as she stumbled back. Then suddenly her huge eyes widened even more and she seemed startled. Rowen looked down to see the sword of Halo run through her up to its hilt. Rowen watched the thing shimmer until it became a slim young girl, blonde hair falling around her as she turned on the blade to look sadly at Sage. She reached out and touched his armored cheek gently and Rowen saw Sage's eyes widen in shock.

"Sage, please help me. _He's_ hurting me. _Sage_…" It shimmered and disappeared. Sage stood frozen, staring at where he had impaled the creature. Rowen stood and went up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly. Sage shook his head, trying to understand the mixture of confusion and hurt and sadness that ripped through him.

"Who was she?" Rowen asked.

"I… I don't know." Sage called off the armor of Halo and stepped back, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know Rowen. But I feel like I have to find out."

"Hey Sage," Rowen suddenly spoke up, voice urgent. "I think we have bigger problems."

"Meaning?" Sage asked, still trying to clear his head.

"The girls. They're gone."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nikki fled. She'd been in many battles, she'd seen uncountable horrors, but what she had just witnessed had been too much. Sobbing she ran, not knowing where she was going and not caring. She heard Mia calling her name from behind but she never slowed. Nikki tripped on a rock and stumbled, falling and skinning her right knee. Ignoring the pain, such small menial pain, Nikki staggered to her feet and plunged ahead blindly. She couldn't see a thing, she'd brought no light with her, but it didn't matter what was around her. Nothing could be worse than what had already happened. If something bad was here, what did she care? She didn't care. She couldn't care. She was too tired to care.

She tripped again and fell harder this time, feeling the ground give out beneath her feet. She tumbled, rolling over and over until her foot caught painfully on a sharp object. She screamed, but not from pain. She screamed from frustration and hurt that had been hidden inside her for too long. She beat her fists helplessly into the dirt, yelling at the top of her lungs, hoping that maybe if she tried hard enough she could get those images out of her head.

Mia finally found her, curled up in the dirt, face tear streaked and eyes hard.

"Nikki?" she asked gently, moving closer and lifting her light to get a better look at her friend.

"I don't care. I don't Mia. I don't care anymore."

"Okay Nikki," Mia breathed, using her calmest voice. "Okay. I understand, I really do. It upset me a lot too. But-"

"But nothing Mia! I refuse to be a part of this. I told you. I told you I didn't want to be here! I told you…" Nikki trailed off and Mia edged a little closer.

"Nikki, please. Listen to me. Don't move. Please. Just _don't move_."

It was the "too controlled" tone in Mia voice that gave away her fright, and it was what got through to Nikki. She was upset, but she wasn't dumb. Nikki froze and lifted her head slowly. Her eyes widened and the blonde girl was forgotten. This time when Nikki screamed she meant it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"Don't be scared little girl. It'll all be over soon." _He_ giggled uncontrollably as he played with her hair. The woman began to cry, because she knew it wouldn't._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm worried Ryo, I think something's wrong." Cye paced by the window, staring outside into the darkness.

"I think you're right," Ryo agreed. He'd been getting progressively worse feelings all night. It had driven him to wander the house, only to find Cye doing the same thing.

"Go get Kento," he ordered. "We're leaving."

"Okay." A pause then, "Ryo? Do you feel that?"

"Just get Kento, Cye."

"Alright."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"You guys? I want you to meet someone. Everyone, this is Cassie. Cassie, this is Ryo, Rowen, Mia, and Kento. And the guy who just came through the door is Sage."_

_"It's nice to meet you all…Cye? I can _see_ him. Why can I see him?" _

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rowen heard the scream and started running. He plunged into the dark, stumbling and tripping the way Nikki had until a bright warm glow grew in the tunnel. He knew it was Sage behind him and continued ahead at full speed, now able to avoid the hazards in his way. The walls of the cave had become very tunnel like, and were covered with drawing and glyphs that Rowen didn't recognize. He mentally categorized them as something to figure out later and rushed ahead. The tunnel suddenly opened up into a massive chamber, the walls stretching endlessly away from them. He paused, startled, and glanced up. The ceiling was too high. They hadn't gone very deep underground but the top of the chamber was at least three hundred feet up. Rowen categorized that in the "what the hell?" category and jumped forward. Just ahead of him he saw Mia leaning over the edge of some drop off, calling down. That was also where the screaming was coming from.

Rowen reached the edge and looked down, his blood suddenly going cold. About fifteen feet below, Nikki was crouched on large jutting rock, back flattened against the edge of the chasm, staring down in terror.

"Nikki close your eyes," Rowen ordered. She looked up at him, face pure white.

"Close your eyes Nikki!" he roared. She jumped and squeezed her eyes shut. Rowen cast around and failed to find what he wanted. He called his armor and pulled his bow from his shoulder. He strung an arrow and aimed at the ground about ten feet from where Sage stood, his sword glowing.

"Give me some rope Mia," Rowen said.

"I don't have any," she whispered. Rowen looked sharply at her then groaned. He leaned back over the edge.

"Don't you dare open your eyes," he told Nikki. She nodded and kept them closed tightly. Rowen took off and headed for the campsite, without the benefit of light again. He almost missed where they had dropped their packs but a well-placed stumble found them. He grabbed everything and rushed back. Sage had knelt by the edge and was talking quietly to Nikki. Rowen dumped the contents of the packs on the ground and rummaged through, finally finding a coiled nylon rope. He unraveled it and secured one end as tightly as he could to the arrow he'd buried in the ground.

"Sage," he said as he finished off the knot. "I don't know how long this will hold and you need both hands to keep that light on us. If it starts to slip grab it. We'll deal with the dark."

Sage nodded and positioned himself where he could quickly drop his sword and grab the rope quickly. Rowen called off his armor, leaving only his undergear for protection in case they feel. The less weight on the rope the better, he figured. Rowen wrapped the rope around his hand and gently eased himself over the edge. He clung to the wall for a moment, trying to see if he could climb down without putting any weight on the rope. Unfortunately the rock was too slick where she had tumbled down it and he had no purchase.

"Rowen…" he heard Nikki moan below.

"Relax brat," he joked, trying his best to be as insolent as possible. "You always make a habit of being a pain in the ass, don't you?"

"Bite me," Nikki muttered, looking up at him, then looking down and squeaking. She flattened herself tighter against the wall. "Rowen, _hurry_. I'm not good with heights."

"I know, Nik, but you got yourself into this, so you're just going to have to chill out and deal with it. Stop being a baby."

"You're really an asshole, you know that Rowen?"

"It's why you want me so bad sweet cheeks."

"Excuse me?" Nikki said indignantly. "Did you just call me _sweet cheeks_!"

"I know. A bit of a stretch, huh? But I figure the only positive quality you possess is that you have a nice butt. Everything else is a total turnoff. The personality, the language, the self-absorbed conceited behavior…"

"I'm conceited and self absorbed?" Nikki snapped, thoroughly insulted. "This from a man who's head is so big that he has to make sure he's the complete center of attention every time anything ever happens…"

Rowen appeared in front of Nikki and set one foot tentatively of the outcropping. It groaned distressingly under his foot. Nikki stood up slowly, eyes large as the groaning got louder.

"Grab on to me," Rowen commanded. Nikki edged towards him. "Now Nikki!" She jumped forward just as the groaning became a cracking, throwing her arms around his neck and hanging on for dear life.

"Did wou hadd do grad my droad?" Rowen choked, but Nikki only gripped tighter. Underneath them the groaning had stopped as soon as their weight left the outcropping.

"Grad my sholders. Niddi! Grad my sholders!" Rowen tried again. Nikki realized what he was saying and shifted her arms a tiny bit, allowing Rowen aminiscule rush of air.

"Damn, girl! You almost choked me to death. Then where would we be? And I don't need to be the center of attention." He started the slow climb back up, thankful his undergear kept Nikki's fingernails from digging too deep into his skin.

"Yeah right. What about the time when you were sick and were all mad that Ryo didn't notice you were better. You threw a little temper tantrum until everyone paid attention to you. That's pretty pathetic."

"That's completely out of context, and I don't even know how you knew that."

"I know everything, jerk." The rope suddenly twitched in Rowen's hand, then it twitched again.

"Sage!" Rowen yelled, just as the rope went slack and they started to fall. The chamber went dark and Nikki screamed. Then the rope snapped them back again, knocking them roughly into the wall.

"I got you Rowen," Sage called down.

"Good, help pull us up then," Rowen grunted. "She's heavier than she looks."

"I swear I will hit you for that just as soon as I'm not dangling in mortal danger over an endless chasm," Nikki warned.

"And you say I'm the drama queen."

"Are we sure we want to pull them back up?" they heard a quietly amused voice above.

"I heard that Mia," Nikki called.

"You were supposed to Nik," Mia replied sweetly. Sage grunted and pulled them the last few feet up and over the edge. Nikki stumbled away and sat down, breathing heavily. Sage grabbed Rowen's hand and helped pull him to his feet before picking up his sword. After a moment the glow returned to the chamber.

"This place is huge," Mia whispered, standing and turning around in a circle. "There's no way it could be this tall."

"Amazing," Rowen commented blandly. "Blows the mind. Now we need to get out of here."

"What are you talking about Rowen?" Mia asked, looking over at him. "This is right where we're supposed to be. Something's definitely here."

"You're right Mia. Something's definitely here, or was until Sage made a ka-bob out of it, and I bet there are more right behind it. We need to get you girls someplace safe. We'll come back if you want, but alone."

"And you would know what to look for how?" Mia snapped. She put her hands on her hips angrily. "I need to be here, and Nikki needs to be here. If you boys want out go right ahead."

"Nikki needs to be here?" Rowen asked incredulously. "Mia, she almost just _died_. If she freaks out and runs each time there's a fight, then we're going to have a hell of a time protecting you two in here!"

"You're the Ronin Warriors, Rowen! Figure it out! We need to be here, so deal with it." Mia turned angrily away. Rowen wasn't deterred that easily.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Mia?" he demanded, following her. "You were always the smart cautious one. Now it seems like you can't wait to throw yourself head first into danger, and you don't mind who you drag in with you. Nikki could have-"

"Nikki's _fine_ Rowen!"

"But she was scared enough of that thing to-"

"It wasn't the demon," Nikki spoke softly behind them. Rowen and Mia both turned to her. In the dim light Nikki looked much older than she actually was. Her eyes seemed tired.

"It wasn't the demon. It was the end, when you killed it. It freaked me out seeing a girl get skewered like that."

Sage had remained silent this entire time, but now he too moved over, looking deep in Nikki's eyes.

"Who was she?" he asked her. Nikki turned away, shaking her head, but Sage reached out and cupped her chin in his hand, bringing her face back to him. The touch was very uncharacteristic of the warrior of Halo, but he didn't release her. "Nikki, who was she?"

She was silent for along moment, but finallyNikki sighed, defeated by those intense violet eyes.

"A girl. Someone I used to know."

"What happened to her?" Sage pressed. "Where is she? Is she in trouble?" Nikki pulled away from Sage and moved away, walking over to where Rowen had dumped the packs out in his rush to find some rope. She calmly started putting their things back inside.

"Nikki?" Sage asked again. Rowen was bothered by the edge in Sage's voice but said nothing.

"I don't want to talk about her. There's no use to it."

"Is she in trouble Nikki?" Sage demanded, kneeling down in front of her.

"Not anymore, Sage. Not anymore." Nikki looked glumly at the immense chamber they were in, and the seemingly impassible chasm in front of them. "She might be the lucky one."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Come on White Blaze, we need to find the others. We think they might be in danger." Ryo ran a hand down the tiger's back and watched Kento and Cye climb in Kento's truck. The tiger leaned into Ryo's leg and growled softly. Ryo left the tiger and climbed in the passenger seat. The truck pulled noisily out of the drive and headed down the road. The tiger was torn. He felt compelled to go with his master, to help protect him from the danger he knew they were headed towards. But the danger they were leaving…

_He_ sat on the railing of the balcony, head tilted to the side and legs swinging, watching what the tiger would do. White Blaze looked at the balcony and growled again. Then the tiger leapt off after the truck. _He_ shrugged and disappeared.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N I know this is the second song I've put up so far but it reminded me of the end of the chapter. I dedicate this chapter to TL and her endless search to figuring out just what the heck I am talking about. Lol! Hope you guys like. I don't own the Ronin Warriors and constructive criticism is a beauty. :D

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter Ten

No one knows what it's like  
To feel these feelings  
Like I do  
And I blame you

No one bites back as hard  
On their anger  
None of my pain and woe  
Can show through

But my dreams  
They aren't as empty  
As my conscience seems to be

I have hours, only lonely  
My love is vengeance  
That's never free

-The Who "Behind Blue Eyes"

_She was sitting out on the dock, watching the sun set slowly in the sky when he found her. He stood back for a while, leaning against the railing, and waited. She'd taken off her shoes and was dangling her legs above the water, toes just barely submerged. She looked almost relaxed, even though he knew it was a front. She hadn't been relaxed in a long time; none of them had. She had pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail and the effect made her seem younger than she was. It was nice, he thought to himself, thinking that maybe for a while she could be carefree. Then she bent her head and she slumped slightly, her thoughts putting the world back on her shoulders. It struck a nerve in him and he moved forward._

_He sat down next to her, not saying anything. She gave him a quick tight smile, then turned back to watching the sunset. He searched and searched and just couldn't find the right thing to say. That he would protect her? He'd certainly try, she knew that already. But it was very likely that his protection wouldn't be enough. The thought sent chills down his spine, and he shuddered slightly in the balmy evening air. If she noticed, she didn't embarrass him by acknowledging it. _

_He wanted to protect her. He would tie her up and stick her in the closet if he thought it would help, but there was more to all this than just her. He wished there wasn't, it would make his life a lot easier. If he could put all his energy into keeping one person safe, and to hell with the rest of them, then maybe he wouldn't feel quite so helpless. He wouldn't feel like they were fighting an uphill battle that couldn't be won. _

_A slim hand rested on his, fingers cool and soft as they entwined with his rough calloused ones. He shook his head. He'd come here to comfort her, and instead she was doing the reverse. He leaned on her, they all did. Who did she lean on? Who did she turn to when she was frightened and exhausted? He closed his hand around hers and tugged her closer. She exhaled softly and moved over, laying her head on his shoulder. It was a first. It felt good. He tentatively wrapped his arm around her waist, fully expecting her to pull away, but she only pressed closer to him._

_He needed to protect her. He was so scared of losing her. He was even more scared of the decisions he might soon have to make. Fear was something he wasn't used to and he didn't like it._

_"You're going to be okay," she whispered softly from her place on his shoulder. He looked down at her, memorizing the way she looked right now. Her eyes closed, her face peaceful, her body relaxed against his._

Who does she turn to? _He almost laughed at himself, and would have at any other time. Instead he leaned down and brushed his lips softly against her temple, resting his head on hers, his own eyes closed. They stayed that way until it came for them all._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well boys," Cye said with mild disgust tingeing his voice, "I think this is as far as we go. The rest is going to be on foot."

Cye kicked at the wheel of Kento's truck, now buried eight inches deep in the mud. Kento gave Cye a look that said 'don't you dare hurt my baby' but kept his mouth shut. Ryo straightened from where he'd been pushing the vehicle's door and shrugged. It wasn't that they weren't strong enough collectively to lift the truck out of the thick muck the dirt road had become, but it just got stuck again as soon as they put it down. He dusted off his hands and scanned the area for his tiger. He whistled piercingly and heard a roar in response from his left. White Blaze was close, so he wouldn't be left behind.

"Well, we got this far. What do you guys think? That way?" Ryo pointed into the deeply wooded area. The others paused for a moment then nodded. None of them had any idea where the archeological site actually was, but they knew which direction the other Ronin armors were and that was as good as a compass as far as they were concerned. Cye tilted his head to the side then pointed slightly to the right of where Ryo had indicated.

"A little more that way Ryo," Cye adjusted the direction. "Only it's weird, I feel like they keep getting fuzzy on me. Like they're there but they aren't. I guess. Like I said, it's weird."

Ryo gave Cye a sidelong look, but didn't contradict him. He was starting to not only get used to Cye's odd behavior, but to trust in his feelings. He had been right when he'd said something was wrong with Kento earlier. The Ronin of Hardrock had been relatively silent since then, but Kento nodded at Cye's comment.

"Then let's get this over with. I say armor up so we're faster," Kento grunted, donning his undergear with a click. The others followed suit, Ryo pausing once more to whistle for his tiger. White Blaze appeared out of the foliage, the fuzzy remains of something sticking out of his mouth. Cye's jaw dropped and he turned rather greenish when he saw part of it twitch.

"Is that…did he just eat a _bunny_?" Cye asked in shock, looking slightly sick. Kento snorted and Ryo tried to suppress his grin.

"He is a tiger, Cye," Ryo gently reminded his friend. Cye managed a look of outrage.

"But we feed him! Daily! And that was a little…"

"Bunny?" Kento supplied helpfully. White Blaze looked curiously at Cye then padded forward, dropping the mostly eaten remains at Cye's feet, purring. The Ronin of Torrent yeeped and jumped back. Ryo snickered but tried desperately to cover it up with a cough. The tiger sat back on his haunches and licked his chops, a satisfied expression on his feline face.

"Sometimes animals need fresh meat, Cye," Kento informed his friend, clapping him on the shoulder companionably. "Don't blame him. A little rabbit doesn't sound too bad right now, myself."

Cye stared in horror at his friend, then turned away, shaking his head and muttering to himself. Kento looked over at Ryo and winked. Ryo grinned back, glad that a little of Kento's spark was starting to return. He looked up at the gradually lightening sky, glad that they weren't going to start this search in total darkness. A slight mist was forming and Ryo hoped they weren't going to get rained on.

"Come on guys," he said. "Let's go. I have a feeling that they aren't too far off." Ryo placed his armored foot securely in the dirt and pushed off into a jump, landing balanced on a tree branch fifteen feet above the others. Kento and Cye followed suit, a slightly sick expression still on Torrent's face, as they began a race through the woods to find their friends. Ryo ignored the dark feeling he had that they were already close to being too late.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Anybody have any ideas on how we're going to get across?"

Nikki's question, though light in tone, was met with glares and grunts. She sighed and wished that Mia would return soon. At least then it was two against two. Right now she felt a little ganged up on. Sage was angry with her for not expanding on the subject of the girl the demon had turned into, and he went in spells of glaring at her and forcing himself to meditate. Obviously he was having trouble focusing because he'd give up after a while and would return to glaring at her. At least it was more familiar. Nikki was used to Sage disliking her, and the passive indifference he'd shown her thus far had been disconcerting.

Rowen was throwing one of his temper tantrums. This was the kind where he grunted and growled at everybody, pacing around and kicking random stuff. His deep blue eyes flashed angrily and you could almost see his thoughts spinning around in his head fifty miles an hour. When he turned the look on one of the girls, it was as if he was just begging them to start something. Nikki knew better than to mess with Rowen when he was like this; his biting comments could hit home and do much more damage than he would ever realize. It was better to leave him alone.

But just because they both wanted to be angry and moody didn't mean that they didn't have a job to finish. Mia was examining the glyphs and writings on the walls leading up to the chamber in the hopes of finding something to help. Nikki couldn't decipher ancient Japanese languages, so she did her part by sitting there and wondering what to do now.

"Do you guys think you could jump it?" she dared to ask.

"It's about the length of a football field and there's no room to get any momentum built up. What do you think Nikki?" Rowen shot back curtly. Nikki sighed and counted to ten. She told herself that she had to be patient with him right now, because the blue-haired buffoon _had_ saved her life, and that required at least a small bit of tolerance. It didn't give him the excuse of being such an ass, but she thought he was one on a good day, so it could be overlooked…for now.

"Okay," she tried again. "How about using all the ropes and one of your arrows?"

Rowen leveled a look of disgust at her and shook his head. "Do you want to be the first one across with that idea?" he inquired. "Or should the rest of us continue to throw ourselves in harm's way so you girls can find what you're looking so desperately for?"

"Quit it Rowen," Nikki couldn't help but snap back, "You have no idea what you're talking about."

Rowen stomped angrily over to where she sat and leaned down, putting his face in her hers.

"Of course I don't sweetheart. Because you ladies haven't deigned to tell us yet. But once you do I'm sure all this running in circles trying to figure out what to do will be just fine." Nikki pushed at him to get him out of her face, looking away.

"I hate Japan," she muttered crossly. Rowen plopped down in front of her and smiled condescendingly.

"And why, darling girl, do you hate Japan?" he asked her. Nikki stared at him for a minute and then looked away again.

"Because everything here ends up going all to hell, no matter what you do," she replied softly, waiting for his next verbal attack. When it didn't come she looked over at him and saw Rowen watching her, a confused look in his eyes. Then he shook his head and the scowl returned.

"Hey you guys, I think I know how to get around it!" came a call from behind Nikki. Mia hurried up, brandishing a small book that she had been holding. In it were copies of the markings found on the walls. Mia seemed oblivious to the tension between the others and squatted down between them, pointing at the top of a page.

"See this? This is a marking that I couldn't figure out what it meant. It's everywhere in here, all over the place. At first the closest translation that I could come up with was something akin to 'confidence'. The glyphs and markings on the walls talk about finding your way through darkness and light, that both are necessary for a proper balance. I think that's what this place is all about. It's the darkness. Yin and yang. We have to go through one to find the other. They kept saying that the traveler must have 'confidence' to pass through to the next place."

"That makes no sense, Mia," Sage spoke up sharply. "Having confidence we will get there doesn't make us magically find our way."

"I know, Sage," Mia said patiently, "but I think I misinterpreted the word. I don't think it's confidence we need. I think this symbol is the symbol for 'belief'. I think to get across _that_," she pointed at the chasm, "we need to have the _belief_ that we can."

Silence, then, "I think Mia's been to Disney World one too many times." Mia rolled her eyes at Nikki.

"I know I'm right. I know it. All I have to do is try it." Mia stood and brushed off her hands, looking determinedly across the chasm. She marched towards the edge, shoving her book in her back pocket.

"Oh shit, Mia don't!" Sage suddenly cursed, eyes wide as he jumped up and lunged forward, trying to grab a hold of her arm. Nikki went white and lurched to her feet, Rowen right beside her. Sage was a moment too late and Mia slipped out of his reach. Taking a deep breath and gripping the necklace she wore tightly, Mia stepped off the edge.

She didn't fall.

Mia was standing there, her necklace in a death grip, eyes closed. She was standing on nothing. Nikki watched with her heart in her throat as her friend slowly walked across nothing towards the distant other side. When Mia's feet finally hit dirt again, she stumbled forward, gasping. She turned around and waved at them.

"It's okay!" Mia called. "I felt solid ground under my feet the entire time. It's okay. Come across."

Nikki took a deep breath and looked at where her friend stood. Then she too headed for the edge.

"Wait!" Sage snapped, grabbing onto her arm and restraining her. "Rowen."

"Yeah, I heard it too." Rowen knelt down and grabbed some rocks off the ground, tossing them out over the pit. Nikki heard a clinking sound as some scuttled along on some invisible surface, the others dropped instantly.

"There's a surface that goes across, but it doesn't span everything. I heard Mia's shoes hit it. If it was brighter in here, we might actually be able to see it," Rowen said. He knelt at the edge and felt around until he found the flat hard surface, about three feet across. Then he too took a deep breath and stepped out on it. It held. Rowen bounced up and down several times, then grinned as he turned around.

"Hey Sage," he said, "it's just like Indiana Jones! Total rip off. Only our evil female is still with us."

Nikki glared at him but Sage chuckled slightly. Rowen stepped off and grabbed Nikki's hand pulling her with him.

"Okay, in a line so no one falls off," Rowen said. Sage sandwiched Nikki between the two of them, and they slowly edged their way across. Nikki forced herself to stare only at the back of Rowen's blue head, and not look down. It was with a gasp of relief that she finally found regular ground beneath her. She looked at Mia to find her friend had gone pure white and was sitting on the dirt, staring at the chasm in horror.

"I…I was wrong," she murmured. Sage leaned down next to her and spoke a few words softly in her ear. Mia nodded and seemed to composure herself. Sage helped her to her feet, and Nikki could see Mia was trembling. The redhead took a huge breath then put on her determined face again. Together, and more cautiously than before, they continued deeper into the cavern.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Uhh, guys? Do you see that?" Kento asked, sounding weirded out. Ryo moved forward and stood at Hardrock's shoulder. Cye followed, curious. They had just topped a ravine, feeling sure that they were extremely close to the others. They looked where Kento was pointing. Ahead of them were two smooth stones, thrust upright in the ground. Between them was a statue.

"That's just creepy."

"You're telling me."

"I could have gone the rest of my life without ever seeing that."

"I'm going to have nightmares tonight."

"Did they have to make her _naked_?"

Shaking their heads in disturbed wonder, the three Ronins continued on.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you okay?" Sage asked Mia quietly, low enough that the two arguing people ahead of them would not hear. Mia nodded and clamped her mouth down tightly.

"No one's mad at you. It was a mistake," he reassured her gently.

"It was a stupid dangerous mistake," she replied bitterly. "We don't have time for those sort of blunders."

"Why don't we, Mia?" Sage pressed her, reaching out and grabbing her hand. "What time scale are we on? _What_ are we trying to do before _what_ happens? Why won't you explain anything?"

"Sage, please leave it alone…" Mia whispered.

"No." He grabbed her hand harder and pulled her around to face him. Mia's breath caught in her throat as intense violet eyes stared deep into hers. She knew what he was about to do; she was surprised she'd staved it off this long. And god help her, she was tired of holding this all in herself. Still she tried to pull away, but Sage drew her up closer and did something he had never done to her before. She knew it worked best with contact but it still startled her when his mouth came down on hers. He delved.

_---_

_"Oh my god, it's coming _back_! Mia get out of there!" she heard Nikki scream as her friend ran forward. _

_"Nikki!" she heard a male voice bellow. Mia looked up and realized that there was no way she could escape this one. She had a split second to turn back and look at Nikki, struggling to reach her and being held back by Rowen. She took a deep breath and braced herself, knowing this one was the end. Then he was in front of her, armored arms going around her protectively, a small smile of resignation on his face._

_"I always did want to go out with a bang," he joked. She half laughed half sobbed as she grabbed onto him and tried to push him away. Then it hit and everything went black._

_---_

_"We can't tell them. There's no way they'll go along with it. Sage and Cye especially will lose it. They can't know."_

_"Mia, are we doing the right thing? Mia?"_

_"…Yes. We have no other choice."_

_"They'll hate us."_

_"I know."_

_---_

He_ was there. Right next to her. _He'd_ never left. _He had never left! _Oh god, it knew everything…_

_---_

_"I'm not going to let you die. I'm not going to let any of you die. Fuck the world," he spat._

_She slapped him as hard as she could, but he just turned and walked away._

_---_

_"Mia…are we doing the right thing? Mia?"_

_"…Yes."_

_---_

_"Sage, stop! Please! You can't…" Mia cried. "Get out of my head!"_

_--- _

_"I think it's watching us. I don't know why we never can feel it, but I think it's still here." She looked around the room, and she could see the concern on all their faces. _

_"Then how the hell are we supposed to beat it?" one of them asked._

_"I don't know."_

_"But it's here right now…" _

_"I think so."_

_---_

_"This will kill it. But you know what the ancient said. We can't lose them. They're too important."_

_"Then we'll just have to do it ourselves."_

_"How?"_

_"I have an idea."_

_---_

_"Mia? Are we doing the right thing? Mia?" the young blonde girl asked, fingering the item in her lap nervously. Mia reached over and touched her hand soothingly._

_"…Yes. We have no other choice, Cassie."_

_"They'll hate us," Nikki whispered bitterly. Mia gave her a sympathetic look._

_"I know."_

_--- _

"_You let this happen!" he screamed, tears running down his face. The other fell to his knees, silently bowed over in despair. "You LET it!" the first sobbed. "You fools!"_

_---_

_"Mia, are we doing the right thing?"_

_"…Yes. We have no other choice, Cassie." _

_"They'll hate us."_

_"I know. But in the end they'll never know."_

_---_

"_Get out of my head, Sage!" Mia shrieked. "GET OUT!" _

_---_

_"I love you…" she whispered. The look of pain on his face was almost more than she could bear. Then his expression darkened and he whispered thickly to her._

_"You wait until _now_ to say it? You're a coward." Hemoved away in disgust. _

_Rowen kept his eyes riveted on Nikki. She turned away._

"_Don't you dare. If you're going to do this, watch what you're doing, Nik. Watch everything you're destroying. Watch it!" The snap of his voice made her flinch but she continued to look away._

"_Watch Nikki!" Rowen roared. Nikki let out a broken sob and turned her back completely on him._

"_Nikki…" Rowen whispered.Nikki shut her eyes and prayed for it to be over._

_His back was still to Mia, and it tore her apart inside, but she refused to let it show on her face. It was almost done. Five seconds. Four. Three. He turned around and sad eyes looked deep into hers. He mouthed 'I'm sorry' and Mia couldn't keep the sob from escaping her lips. She grabbed her necklace and turned away, crying openly now. Two. One. _

"_I love you too," he said softly. She wheeled around to see him but it was too late. It was done._

_---_

_"Mia, are we doing the right thing? Mia?"_

_"…Yes, Cassie. We have no other choice."_

_---_

"_GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" _

_---_

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Mia screamed, tearing away from Sage and throwing herself back. She hit a rock and stumbled, falling over. She held her head in her hands and rocked back and forth. Sage staggered back, the act of being forced out of her hitting him like a brick wall. He stood there dazed as Nikki cried out, rushing back to her friend and standing protectively over her. Sage started to move but Nikki jumped forward and shoved him as hard as she could. Sage staggered back again, shaking his head painfully.

"You asshole!" Nikki screamed. "Don't you come anywhere near her!"

"Sage, what the hell?" Rowen started, confused. Sage turned to Rowen, violet eyes blazing.

"You were right all along Rowen. About both of them, " Sage spat.

"What are you talking about-?" Rowen wondered aloud. Sage growled deep in his throat and took two steps forward.

"Sage wait…" Rowen moved to intercept his friend, not knowing what Sage intended to do. He never found out either, because they were interrupted in an amazingly timely fashion.

"Hey guys!" Kento shouted from across the chasm cheerfully. "How the heck do you get across this thing?"


	11. Chapter 11

A/N Okie dokie. Hope you like! Sorry about the cliffhangers. The only way to avoid them with this fic is to end the chapters mid-sentence or to never stop writing. (And NO! I won't TL!) I don't own the Ronin Warriors, and I don't want any part of Damian. But constructive criticism is always appreciated.

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter Eleven

"Hey guys? How the heck do you get across this thing?" Kento shouted cheerfully.

Rowen shouted back how to get across the chasm. The guys were half way there when Sage flipped. His face was twisted and ugly when he went for Mia and Nikki. Rowen tried to intervene but Sage forced past him. Sage grabbed Nikki's arm and threw her to the side, his rage all focused on Mia. Rowen spun and caught Nikki before she fell, leaving Mia defenseless. The redhead stared coldly at Halo as he seized her up.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Nikki walked next to him, his massive armor making her feel small and insignificant. The heavy scowl on his face didn't help, nor did the way he gripped his bow with a large clenched fist. She felt naked at his side, as if she was set out in shame for him to see right through her. For him to judge her. She knew she came out lacking._

_"Keep your eyes open," Rowen said, his voice quiet but hard as steel. He was angry with her. He had been for so long now. She wished that this was over. She really didn't know how much more she could take. Nikki nodded and scanned the woods around them, but she knew it was pointless. There was nothing about her that would be able to sense the enemy until they were right in front of her face. Any survival instincts had long since started screaming at her that she needed to get away from there. A little more danger wouldn't mean anything, and wouldn't cause any extra warning. She wasn't like them. She didn't want to be. She wanted to be home, in her own bed, in her own country, in her own life. She didn't want to be a part of his any longer._

_The thing had leapt out of the trees above them and Rowen had put an arrow through its head before she knew they were being attacked. It fell to the ground with a thump, writhing around in pain. Rowen put two more arrows in it before it stopped fighting. She realized that she had never even started. She hadn't been afraid. Rowen poked his foot into the thing, turning it over and making sure it was dead. Then he leveled her with a cold look._

_"You weren't watching, Nikki. It was going after you." She shrugged, as if to say that there wasn't anything she could do about it. Rowen snorted and continued on, his broad back turned to her. _

_Oh yes, she didn't want to be a part of this any longer. _

_They topped a hill and she caught a glimpse of the small clearing, and the several people gathered around a fire at the center of it. The Ronin stretched his long legs, walking faster towards the safety of the group below. She continued at the same pace, buying herself a few moments of time to think. The redhead at the fire looked up at Nikki, and her brow furrowed a moment. Nikki shook her head in a small quick motion, and a brief flicker of relief showed on the redhead's face before she schooled it away. Several feet away a blonde head was turned in her direction. Nikki almost went to her to give her the same silent reassurance she'd given Mia, but the girl was flanked by both Cye and Sage, and neither one looked like they were planning on going anywhere anytime soon. Sage's face was set in a grim expression, and Cye's wasn't much better. Both were armed. _

_Rowen strode into the firelight and went immediately to where Ryo stood with Kento. He leaned in and Nikki couldn't hear what he had said, but Mia's face once again flickered, this time with anger, before she forced it down. Nikki just shrugged at her friend. It didn't matter. Rowen would think what he wanted to. Nikki had long since tried to change that. _

_Nikki paused by the fire and sat down slowly. Cassie gingerly picked her way over to the fire and lowered herself between Nikki and Mia. Nikki reached out and briefly touched the blonde girl's hand, hoping the motion went unnoticed. Cassie stared unseeing at the dancing flames before her, seeming lost in her own world. But she too had a quick expression of relief pass her face. A moment. Nikki looked up and saw that Sage was watching them all, his eyes narrowed and unreadable. Nikki met his gaze and eventually the Ronin of Halo looked away, standing and moving over to Cye's side. The two spoke softly and Cye shook his head. Nikki didn't even try to figure it out. _

_Too many secrets. Too many deceptions. Were they even still on the same side?_

_Nikki remained were she was seated, closing her eyes tiredly. She was cold, despite the fire in front of her. She was cold all the way down into her bones. She wondered if she was ever going to be warm again. _

_As if instinctually knowing what she needed, she felt a male figure move in behind her and wrap his arms around her. She sighed and leaned back into his chest, thankful that he wasn't still as angry with her. That they could at least take a moment to relax…_

_She opened her eyes and went to turn around and tell him she was sorry about everything that had happened earlier, but something caught her eye. Rowen. He was still across the fire with Ryo and Kento, but all three were staring at her in horror. Nikki went numb. The arms around her tightened and a soft voice whispered seductively in her ear._

"_Come now little one, don't you want to play anymore?" _

_Something licked her neck. _

_Oh god, she didn't want to be a part of this any longer._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sage, calm down," Rowen said, just as the others made it across. They stared in confusion for a second at the scene in front of them.

"You…what did you do…!" Sage roared.

"Sage! Calm down!" Ryo shouted from the chasm. "Rowen, grab him!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Cassie looked confused as she kept her face turned towards where Sage had just entered. She had gone pale, then flushed. She grasped at Cye's hand, and they could see that she was trembling. She continued to stare blindly at Sage. The blonde Ronin had stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes riveted on the young woman._

_"Cye? I can see him. Why can I see him, Cye?" Cassie asked, sounding almost breathless. _

_"What do you mean, you can see him?" Cye stared at her, then at Sage. "I thought you were completely blind Cass."_

_"I am, almost," she said, a smile forming on her lips. "My world is all dark shadows." Suddenly her entire face lit up and she started laughing. _

"_But I can see him! I don't know why, but where there's usually dark all I see is this bright beautiful light! It's beautiful! You're beautiful!" Cassie laughed with joy and spun in a circle, as if an excited child. She moved forward across the kitchen unerringly towards Sage. _

"_Cassie, look out!" Mia started but the girl had already stumbled into one of the kitchen chairs between her and Halo. Cye jumped forward to steady her, but Sage beat_ _him to it. He moved to her swiftly and caught her arm, lightly grasping her waist to help her regain her balance. Cassie stared up at him, blue eyes unseeing but riveted on him. She bit her lip with small teeth, face upturned. Sage looked speechless. It was a first. _

_Cassie reached a tentative hand up and paused. When Sage didn't move or stop her, Cassie brushed her small fingers against Sage's shoulder. Then she moved up to his face._

"_I can see you," she whispered. Sage still seemed dazed, but was recovering._

"_But you can't see the furniture so please be careful," he said gently. Cassie smiled again, and the tall Ronin in front of her couldn't help but smile too. Mia looked at Sage then back at Cye. The warrior of Torrent was standing there silently, expression stunned. Rowen must have noticed as well because he spoke up in an overly jovial voice._

"_Gee Sage, that's swell of you to provide a warning system for her, especially since we all know how clumsy you can be, buddy. But why don't you return the pretty lady to her escort so we can go get that barbeque started up? I've got a rack of ribs calling my name."_

_Rowen leveled a pointed look at Sage. He continued to stare down at the girl in front of him. Rowen cleared his throat._

"_Seiji…give her back to Cye and help me, okay?" At the use of his Japanese name, Sage started then pulled back, flushing. _

"_Of course," he said, guiding Cassie back to Cye quickly. "It was nice to meet you Cassie. If you'll excuse me." Sage took one look at Cye then flushed again, moving out of the room with Rowen._

"_Later darlin'!" Rowen called over his shoulder as the two disappeared through the kitchen door._

"_What the hell was that?" Rowen lowered his voice as soon as they were out of the room. "She came here with Cye, man! You can't…whatever that was!"_

"_It was nothing." Sage mouth went tight as he exited the house and headed for the grill. _

"_Good. Keep it that way." Rowen looked across the lawn and suddenly perked up, a grin splitting his face. "Hey Nikki! Get your butt over here! I'm going to show you how a real man cooks!"_

_The dark haired girl lounging in the sun remained were she was, but rolled her eyes insolently._

"_Is that why you have Sage with you?" she asked acidly. Rowen's face fell and he glared at her, then shrugged and turned away._

"_You know, I try and I try, but I really can't stand that girl," Rowen spoke irritably. Sage grunted and picked up the charcoal. _

"_None of us can, Rowen."_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sage, let her go! Sage!" Ryo snapped, angry and confused, trying to pry Sage's hands away from Mia. Sage had seized her up and was shaking her with uncommon and unbelievable rage.

"I swear if you don't drop her this instant, I will beat the hell out of you, friend or not. So DROP HER SAGE!" Kento roared furiously. Sage didn't, so Kento slammed his fist into Sage's stomach. The Ronin of Halo grunted and bent over, loosening his hold on the frightened redhead. Kento grabbed her up and drug her away, keeping her behind him protectively. Ryo and Cye moved in between as soon as they saw Sage surge back up to his feet.

"Rowen help us, dammit!" Cye yelled.

"No."

"Why the hell not!"

"I'm not sure..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_All right! Enough of this! What do you want from me! To magically metamorphosize into your perfect woman? What dimensions do you want, Rowen? Thirty-six, twenty-four, thirty-six? Maybe I could grow another foot or so. Bring you breakfast in bed. Rub your feet. Knit you socks…"_

_Rowen stood up and brushed past her, grabbing his shirt up and yanking it on viciously. He paused in the doorframe and said over his shoulder,_

_"Actually Nikki, all I wanted was five lousy minutes of company. Of you not being a bitch for once. It might've been nice. Now I couldn't give a shit."_

_He let her door slam shut behind him. She stared at the door for a long time before returning to her bed alone. His side was already cold._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"They killed her Cye!" Sage roared, still struggling to get at Mia and Nikki. "They killed her!"

"What the hell…?" Cye stared at Sage in confusion. "Who?"

"Think about it Cye! Use your brain! It's in there, but they made us forget. They made us forget what they did so that…that we wouldn't know that they killed her!"

"Who, Sage?" Cye was almost screaming at his friend. "Who did they kill!"

"_Cassie_…" Sage groaned in despair and finally slumped to his knees.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Cassie shrieked with laughter when Sage picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, jumping back into the water with a huge splash. They both came up sputtering and Cassie playfully thumped him over the head._

_"Take that, you fiend!" she laughed. A dangerous look came into Sage's eyes and he moved in on her._

_"Oh yeah?" he asked softly. Then he disappeared from her sight. Cassie turned around, treading water, trying to find that familiar light in the darkness. She couldn't find him anywhere._

_"Sage?" she asked, getting a little nervous despite herself. "You better not have ditched me buddy, because that's going to be one heck of a long walk to try to find my way back on. Sage?"_

_Cassie yelped as she was yanked from below back down into the water. She came up sputtering again, laughing once more._

_"You're a jerk," she told him. Sage only chuckled and moved closer to her. Cassie gradually stopped smiling, aware of his closer proximity, but she didn't move away. A long muscled arm reached out and wrapped itself gently around her waist._

_"Sage," she whispered softly, breathing deeper. "Sage we can't."_

_The arm drew her in closer and Cassie's heightened senses of kicked in. She could hear his breathing, slightly deeper then normal, as if he was trying to keep himself calm. He smelled like the woods, like trees and new grass and running water. His muscles around her felt relaxed and easy, confident. The only thing that belied his emotions completely was the light she saw when she turned her face to him. It surged back and forth, growing brighter than normal before shifting back, in time with his breathing. Cassie shivered when he pulled her flush against him, water dripping down his bare chest, the light so bright she almost couldn't stand it. Her head was spinning. She could feel the strength in his hands despite how gently he ran his palm down her jaw, tangling his fingers into her wet hair. _

_"Sage, please…"_

_He tilted her head back and shivered. Then he paused. He waited. Finally she gave in and she leaned up. Sage brushed his lips lightly across hers, as if still uncertain of the reception he would get. Cassie sighed and pressed into him, wrapping her arms around his neck. That was all it needed for Sage to break. He seized her up, crushing her body to his, and kissed her the way he'd wanted to ever since the first time he'd laid eyes on her. She was his drug, the one thing in his life that he'd become completely infatuated with. She was perfect. Everything about her. He needed her… _

_Suddenly they both felt a familiar jolt and Cassie yanked away. Sage's arms fell helplessly to his sides. He knew what it meant, and he didn't want to turn around. But he'd never been a coward. Sage sighed and turned to face the stricken young man who had swum up behind them. _

_"Cye…" Cassie breathed, and tears came to her eyes. "I'm so sorry." The girl turned and dashed towards the shore, stumbling out of the water and back towards the trail leading to the house. Sage remained where he was, facing his friend and comrade. He waited for Cye to say something but the warrior remained silent, anger and sadness raging back and forth across his handsome face._

_"Say something Cye," Sage asked softly. Cye just blinked and shook his head, as if trying to force an image out of his mind. _

_"Cye," Sage started again but the other Ronin cut him off gently._

_"You better go after her, Sage. She'll get lost by herself."_

_"Cye, I'm sorry."_

_"Why Seiji?" Cye asked, using Sage's Japanese name for the first time that Sage could remember. "Neither one of us has her. You didn't take anything from me."_

_"I love her, Shin." There was pain in Sage's voice._

_"I know."_

_"But I love you more, my friend."_

_A sad smile formed on Cye's mouth as he whispered, "I know that too." _

_"So what do we do?" Sage asked, sounding lost. It was a side Sage never let show and it wrenched at Cye's heart. The warrior of Torrent was so torn. On one hand he wanted to beat his friend into a bloody pulp for touching the woman that he cared so much about. But at the same time, he had seen the way Sage looked at Cassie. Had seen the way he was kissing her. _

_"I'm going to swim," Cye said suddenly, voice almost sounding normal. "You're going to go find her. She's lost and scared. I can feel it from here. And then tonight we are all going to the club like we promised Mia."_

_"Cye…"_

_"I'll see you later Sage." Cye turned and swam lazily off. He made it until Sage was long gone before the tears of frustration and hurt overtook him. He would not be jealous. Neither one of them actually had her. Cassie never led them on, and there wasn't a deceitful bone in her body. They were all just stuck in this stupid confusing situation. Him and Sage could both lose. It was a sad thought, but the angry and vindictive side of him enjoyed it. He would _not_ get jealous. He _couldn't_. They couldn't afford that right now. They couldn't allow themselves to be divided. Not when that _thing_ had started coming around…_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The name seemed to rock Cye, and he froze. Ryo looked stupidly back and forth between everyone, completely confused. Kento continued to stare down Sage, guarding Mia. Rowen had stepped away from Nikki and was rubbing his temples painfully. White Blaze crouched on the ground and growled at everyone. Finally Rowen stepped forward and yelled at the top of his lungs,

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"

Eight pairs of eyes turned to him. The owner of the last pair grinned from where _He_ was sitting on a nearby rock, enjoying the events as they unfolded. At Strata's outburst, _He_ cocked _his_ head to the side and asked politely,

"Would you all like me to explain?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"You won't win. We'll fight you," Cassie whispered bravely, despite the fact her entire body was trembling in terror. The voice whispered in her ear seductively, as always._

_"Dear child, what makes you think there's anyone but you left?"_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_He_ rose gracefully and straightened to _his_ full height. _He_ looked down at _his_ simply cut shirt and frowned. _He_ adjusted it twice before seeming satisfied and then relaxed back, rolling _his_ shoulders.

"Who the hell's this dude?" Kento grumbled. _He_ grinned, slightly larger and wider than _He_ really should have, and gave a small bow.

"I have many names, good sir," _He_ said with a flourish, "But please call me Damian." It was a flawlessly polite and social appropriate moment, if it hadn't been for the fact that Nikki was sobbing in terror behind Rowen, grasping at his hand and weakly trying to pull him away. Mia had stepped out from behind Kento and was pure white, but she stood her ground.

"So you're back," Mia said as strongly as she could muster. "Pity."

_He_ seemed to find that amusing, and bowed to her mockingly.

"My lady, you did give me a bit of a rocky path to follow." _His_ dark eyes glittered with thinly veiled pleasure. "But it was only fair to give you a head start."

Those dark eyes had locked on her. The other four Ronins shifted uncomfortably, while Sage seemed to be arguing with himself.

"We destroyed you once," Mia whispered thickly, the tendons in her neck visible from her tension. "We can do it again."

Damian seemed to find that hysterical. _He_ fell back, laughing a little too loud, and _he_ jumped back up on his rock. _He_ started to spin in a circle, hands stretched out like a child at play.

"This guy's off his rocker," Ryo whispered under his breath, watching the dark figure spin faster and faster.

"He's…he's the one," Sage suddenly spoke up urgently. "He's the one that attacked us before! Don't let him-"

"Don't let me what, Halo?" _He_ asked from right in front of Sage, grabbing the blonde by the throat and lifting him off the ground, long fingers crushing into Sage's neck.

"Sage!" Rowen shouted and leapt forward.

"No!" Nikki screamed and grabbed at Rowen's arm, throwing him off balance.

"Oh, yes, I have missed _you_," _He_ whispered in Nikki's ear. "So scared. So deliciously scared…" _He_ grabbed her by the arm and Nikki found herself dangling above the chasm next to Sage, Damian seated primly on the invisible bridge. _He_ lifted Sage a little higher and twisted _his_ hand, causing Sage to make a pained choking noise, but allowing _him_ to gaze at _his_ nails critically.

"How the hell's this guy moving so fast!" Cye yelled, yanking out his kanji orb.

"Put that away, sweeting," Damian murmured nonchalantly, "I would hate to get all riled up and forget that I'm holding something." White Blaze snarled from the edge, and _He_ grinned at the tiger, showing _his_ teeth as well. White Blaze shivered but held his ground.

"Where was I?" _He_ asked himself, tapping _his_ foot against an imaginary wall. "Oh yes. I remember. These three little vixens, well two really. Such a shame, wasn't it Sage? She was so pretty…that is until she was ripped into little pieces. But enough of _that_."

"Nikki! Sage!" Rowen cried, seeing them held above the chasm. "Let them go!"

"Really, some people are so rude. Does no one teach manners anymore?" Damian asked himself and casually dropped Nikki. She shrieked as she suddenly plummeted down.

"NO!" Mia screamed, clawing towards the edge. But it was too late. Her friend had fallen too fast. There was nothing they could do.

Nikki was gone.

Mia stared at the chasm stricken. Next to her Rowen stared in disbelief. The Ronins looked in horror at where Sage was still dangling helplessly, choking, digging at the fingertips around his neck. Sage was incredibly strong but didn't even seem to be phasing the thing.

Damian looked at them disapprovingly, like a schoolteacher tired of being interrupted.

"Are we going to pay attention now?" He asked haughtily. The others remained in a horrible silence. "Now then. Before I was so rudely interrupted…these two vixens. I guess we're down to one now. But she's the most important one of all. Because it was all her idea, wasn't it my dear?" Dark eyes returned to Mia, but she remained motionless. The loss of Nikki had seemed to have stunned her into a catatonic condition.

"Well, these sweet little girls decided that you big strong boys just weren't good enough to get the job done. So they took matters into their own hands. Too bad, too, because they did such a botched job of it. Would you like me to tell them just how the little blonde one died? I can describe it. It's fun to describe."

_He_ was cruelly teasing her, but Mia merely shook her head no, staring down after her friend.

"Oh well. I'll let you have the honors, my lady. But I will say that these sweet little girls did a marvelous job covering their tracks until now. That is until their little seal stopped working. Seems like a lot of wasted effort now, doesn't it?" _He_ smiled sympathetically at Mia. The fact that _he_ had way too many teeth took away from the gesture. Sage was starting to turn blue, and his legs were kicking feebly. Rowen looked like he didn't know whether to rush the demon or stay where he was.

"You're not real," Mia whispered.

_He_ cocked _his_ head at her in amusement. "No?"

"No," Mia said, not looking at _him_. "This is just a trick. It's all tricks. To hurt us. To confuse us. This isn't real."

"Mia, don't make him angry," Cye said thickly, eyes riveted on Sage.

"You aren't real," Mia said louder, rising to her feet and clenching her eyes shut. "You aren't real!"

"Mia…" Kento warned, frightened and confused.

"YOU AREN'T REAL! GO AWAY!" Mia screamed.

_He_ grinned at her and leaned forward until their noses were touching.

"Are you sure?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"Don't worry my dear. It'll all be over soon." He lovingly played with her hair. She began crying because she knew it would never be over. Never._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mia opened her eyes to find Sage standing on his tiptoes by the rock it had been on earlier, his hands tearing at his own throat. Nikki was passed out at his feet. Rowen rushed forward and grabbed at Sage, who was a dangerous shade of blue, and drugSage's fingers away from his neck. Sage collapsed into him and Rowen lowered him gingerly to the floor. Ryo had moved to Nikki and picked her up, her form limp in his arms.

"We leave, now," he commanded. He turned angry eyes on Mia. "And you explain _everything_."

"We can't," Mia whispered miserably.

"Why the hell not?" Kento demanded. "I'm ready to get out of here now!"

Mia looked at Kento, her face dejected and afraid.

"Because the game just began."


	12. Chapter 12

A/N Okay guys, I have to warn you. This one gets a little harsh. No sex scenes, but depending on your imagination, it can be pretty rough. So keep it in mind. I warned y'all. I don't own Ronin warriors and constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated. I respect it when others take the time to give their opinions. It helps to make my writing better, whether I agree or not with everything you say. I won't get mad. I promise. :) Sorry it took an extra day to get out but hopefully the length makes up for it! I had to push to get this out, so sorry if there's extra typos.

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter 12

Sage drifted in and out of the memories.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So you're saying we're trapped here?" Ryo asked bitterly. The redhead seated near him said nothing, staring at the ground in front of her. The Warrior of Wildfire cursed and leaned back against the wall of cavern. They had moved away from the place they had been attacked, away from the chasm and the rock the enemy had appeared to them on. The cavern still stretched on in front of them in darkness but now they had a wall behind them and less sides they could be attacked on. It was scant reassurance, but anything was better than nothing. Mia was fidgeting with her hands but otherwise seemed to have regained her composure. Near them they had laid Nikki down, her head resting up on one of Mia's packs. The dark haired girl had yet to regain consciousness.

The two warriors standing in front of Ryo looked distressed. Kento had his helmet tucked under his arm and was scanning the area warily while Cye talked to Ryo.

"We tried to get out to the entrance of the cave, but it seemed that no matter how far we went, we couldn't find it. It wasn't as if we got lost, Ryo. There was only one tunnel leading down and the same leading back. I know we didn't go _that_ far to get here, but after an hour of running at top speed, we just gave up and turned around. It only took us fifteen minutes to get back." Cye expression was grim, worry etched in his eyes. Kento however looked spooked.

"You know, I'm fine being surrounded by earth and all, Ryo," Kento said, eyes on the stone ceiling high above them, "But I also like knowing that I can get out when I want. I don't like this."

"So we're trapped here," Ryo repeated, shaking his head angrily. White Blaze lay at his feet, growling deep in his throat, his eyes flicking back and forth as fast as his tail.

"I told you that and hour and a half ago," Mia spoke up calmly. "We're wasting time."

Ryo leveled a hard look at her, saying, "You're not exactly on the top of the list of who to listen to right now, Mia. So far all you and Nikki have done is lead us around in circles by our noses. You'd earned our trust and respect for many years now, but you're losing it fast. You know more than you've said and for the life of me, I can't figure out why you refuse to explain more. So, yes Mia. You told us we'd be trapped. But half the stuff out of your mouth these days are lies, so forgive me if I didn't listen."

Mia managed to look momentarily hurt before the cool distant look fell back on her face.

"Be that as it may," she said, passing over Ryo's words as if they didn't matter, "we can't leave. _He_ won't let us. It's a game now. We could try to find the exit to this cave for days and it wouldn't do any good. So let's stop wasting time and keep going."

"We're not going anywhere until Sage is okay," Rowen growled from further off to the left. "Nikki too." He was crouched warily in front of his friend, looking for all the world like a blue-armored guard dog. Behind him, his back against the wall like Ryo's, Sage sat cross-legged, his face relaxed into meditation. He'd been like that ever since the attack, refusing to speak to anyone including Rowen.

"We can carry Nikki," Mia dismissed Rowen's concern. "And Sage is fine. He's just pouting. He'll get over it. Now we need to _go_."

"Just pouting?" Rowen's voice cracked incredulously, his eyes widening. "Are you insane? He just almost got strangled to death!"

Mia turned her cool look to Rowen.

"He almost strangled _himself_, Rowen. Sage let himself get too worked up and emotional. If he'd kept his head he never would have fallen for it. He can sense this thing's tricks. He knows better," she concluded with a small shake of her head, her red hair falling back.

"Someone just slipped up," Kento muttered from behind Cye. Ryo's eyes got bigger and he wheeled on Mia.

"Wow, Mia. You sure do know a lot! Tell me, how the hell was Sage supposed to know _that_?" Ryo demanded. Mia closed her eyes as if gathering her patience.

"Because, Ryo, this thing was tricking us at the house. Sage knew it was playing games with us. He should have-" she got cut off.

"Not good enough," Rowen challenged, standing now. "My patience has officially reached its limit, Mia. All of ours has."

_He_ sat watching them as they struggled among themselves. The dark-haired girl was still unconscious, her mind not ready to wake up and acknowledge the previously occurred events. _He_ crawled over to where she lay, and almost tenderly placed her head in _his_ lap, shifting the pack aside. _He_ stroked her hair and brushed a kiss across her brow. Then _He_ turned again to watch the others, the dark haired girl limp in _his_ arms.

Rowen was still confronting Mia, his arms in fists at his sides, fingers clenching and unclenching repeatedly.

"It was one thing when you were leading us all in a wild goose chase, but now people are getting hurt. My _best friend_ is getting hurt." Rowen said, voice dangerous. "Start talking _now_."

Mia looked over at Sage, then turned to where Nikki lay. She stared at her friend for a long time before her eyes finally slipped away. _He_ winked at her as she did.

"You might as well tell them Mia, because if you don't then I certainly will." A deep soft voice spoke from behind Rowen. Sage's eyes remained closed.

"Fine," she whispered, sounding beaten. "I wish you all would just trust me that it's better not for you to hear this…"

"We're past that point, Mia," Cye said firmly. The redhead shrugged, turning her face away.

"I don't know what you want to call him. It. Whatever. But he's evil. He likes to play with your thoughts and get in your head. He likes to watch. He likes to listen. Then he likes to turn it against you. He wants you to doubt what you know and what you feel. He wants you to be so confused that you have no idea how to fight him. He basically wants to screw with your head. He makes Dais at his best seem like a child."

"Why?" Cye asked, shaking his head. "What does he gain from it? Damian, right? That what he said his name was. What does Damian get from messing with us?"

A small twisted smile crept onto Mia's face, but her eyes were cold.

"It's fun."

"Fun? All this is so that some freak can have a good laugh?" Kento raged. Mia sighed and turned to look at Hardrock.

"It's not that simple, but yes Kento. Its main purpose is to amuse itself. It will go to amazing lengths to do it. So we're here in this cave, and we're trying to find something that will help us beat it, so what's more amusing than to keep us here? To trap us in?" Mia kept her eyes locked on Kento's for a moment then turned away again, rising slowly to her feet.

"You think that there's something here that can destroy it?" Ryo asked, also rising. He started to pace back and forth, the subarmor on his feet clinking against the ground. "Is that why you came here?" His eyes narrowed.

"You knew about this thing, all about it, all along didn't you Mia?" Ryo accused. Mia didn't answer.

"Yes, she did," Sage said, voice disturbingly serene. "She knew much more than she's saying." One violet eye opened and locked onto Mia.

"Keep going," he commanded. Mia glared angrily at him but continued talking. Sage closed his eyes as another memory took him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"What's Nikki doing?" Cye asked Sage in amusement. Sage crossed his arms and leaned back, blonde hair falling over one eye heavily._

_"I think she's dancing. That seems logical. This is a party."_

_"Yeah, but Nikki? Normal fun activities seem beyond her. This is wildly out of character."_

_"Who says any of you know her character?" Mia asked, coming up from behind, smiling. She looked relaxed and happy, and she slipped her arm through Cye's familiarly. "There's a lot more to Nikki then you guys give her credit for. Just because she's got a dry wit doesn't mean that she isn't social."_

_"Define your meaning of social, Mia," Cye laughed. "I always got the opinion that Nikki would rather spit then talk to us."_

_"Hey, blame most of that on Rowen. He's constantly trying to irritate her."_

_"Can you blame him?" Sage murmured. Mia shot him a look, then slipped her other arm through Sage's._

_"Come on Sage. Nikki isn't that bad. Stop being so grumpy."_

_"I'm not grumpy," Sage said, calmly. "I'm deep."_

_Mia and Cye were silent a moment then both started laughing. _

_"Suuuure, Sage," Mia said, "Gotcha." Sage looked at her seriously, eyes widening slightly._

"_What?" he asked, sounding slightly insulted. "I am!" Cye and Mia just kept laughing and moved off, heads tipped together conspiratorially. Sage grunted and recrossed his arms. He looked out at the dance floor and saw that Mia's American friend did certainly look like she was having a pretty good time. A rare smile was on her face as she was swung around the floor. It made her almost look pretty for a moment. Sage shook his head ruefully. He must be getting bad if he thought Nikki was pretty. He usually found her completely unattractive, mostly because her attitude was so bad. Sage didn't know how someone would ever want to put up with that. But then again, he and Nikki hadn't gotten along from the start. The only one she was worse with was Rowen._

_Speaking of which, Sage hadn't seen Rowen around for a while. He searched the room but came up blank. He concentrated and got the feeling his best friend was somewhere outside and was uncommonly irritated. Sage skirted the room and left through the main exit, waving off a waiter offering him hors d'oeuvres. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a redhead now cheerfully chatting with a group of men, sipping champagne. At this rate Sage knew one of them was going to have to steal Mia's keys from her before she went home. At least she was having a good time too._

_Feeling out of place, and maybe a little grumpy but he'd never admit it, Sage stepped outside. He searched for Rowen and found him sprawled out on a park bench, long legs crossed, fingers entwined behind his head, staring up at the sky. His sports coat lay carelessly next to him, and a scowl was on his face. Sage moved over and picked up Rowen's jacket, giving it a professional shake before folding it neatly and sitting down. He waited. Rowen stayed silent. Sage started to count down from ten. When he reached two, Rowen grunted irritably, stamping his foot down._

"_I don't know why she drags us to these things," Rowen suddenly complained, voice grouchy. "It's not like we belong. Everyone in there either works at a university or is a scientist. Or unbelievably rich. We are none of the above. I had a guy in there ask me for a martini."_

"_Did you get it for him?" Sage asked innocently. Rowen shot him a death look but continued. _

"_No, I didn't get it for him," Rowen mimicked Sage. "The asshole seemed shocked, too." Sage fought the smile starting to form. _

"_Plus it's not like Mia's incapable of handling herself," Rowen continued. "She's got Nikki. That one could scare off a rabid brussel sprout with one twitch of her tiny little nose. Twitch. Boom! Evil ones dead."_

"_Ummm, Rowen? Rabid brussel sprout?" Sage asked, confused._

"_You think of something scarier," Rowen dared him, voice flat. Sage held up his hands in supplication._

"_You're right, your right," Sage pacified his friend. "Nothing's scarier." Sage was quiet a long moment before gently asking, "Rowen, what's wrong?" Rowen didn't respond at first, then sighed and crossed his arms in front of him._

"_You wouldn't understand," Rowen muttered. Sage looked at him surprised, and a little hurt. _

"_What wouldn't I understand?" Sage asked, confused. His blue haired friend shook his head. _

"_Never mind Sage. Let's just go back inside." Rowen stood up and took his jacket back. Sage stared at him for a minute, then his eyes narrowed suspiciously._

"_Rowen? It's not about Nikki, is it?" _

"_Drop it Sage," Rowen said shortly, turning his back and heading towards the building. Sage shook his head, following._

"_Is it because she came too?" Sage asked. Rowen merely grunted his 'I want you to drop it now' grunt. Sage moved to his shoulder, whispering low now that they were back inside. Mia was still talking to the group of men but now the dark haired girl had joined her side._

"_Rowen you're really going to have to get over this whole Nikki hatred thing," Sage said firmly. " Yeah, I don't like her either, but you're taking it way too far…"_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Sage shivered as another memory took hold of him. They were coming one after another and it was hard to focus on anything else. Ever since he had delved Mia, it was as if a floodgate had been opened. They came randomly, without any sense of time or order. But he had to concentrate on what Mia was saying too. He had to fill in the gaps. He had to know…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"What don't I know, Cassie?" Sage asked, taking up the girl's hand in his. "What aren't you girls telling us?" _

_The blonde started to cry silently, but she took her hand out of the protection of Sage's. Sage's heart sank at the same time his temper ignited._

_"Damn it Cassie, I can't protect you if I don't what to protect you from! Is it Damian? Has that sick bastard come after you? What aren't you telling me?" he demanded. Cassie just turned around, as if to hide from him. Sage growled with frustration and followed her, reaching for her arm._

_"Don't hide from me, Cass! What is it? What's wrong! You're driving me crazy here! Look at me!" he fastened his hand around her forearm and swung her around. "Look at me Cass! Look at me!"_

_"I CAN'T!" Cassie suddenly cried, and slapped him. "Stop it Sage! Stop trying to get me to explain things I can't! Stop trying to force everyone into compartments that you can understand! That's what you're all doing! You're all trying to make us into something that you can control and it doesn't work that way! We don't work that way!"_

_Sage stepped back, stunned she had hit him, and surprised at the strength of her blow. Tears still leaked down her cheeks, but ones of anger._

_"What is wrong with you guys! Are you so hell bent on controlling everything around you that you couldn't care less what it does to us? Go here, stay there. Don't move, don't breathe, don't think!"_

_"We are trying to protect you girls," Sage said slowly, astounded. "We are trying to keep you safe in a situation that none of you are prepared to or capable of facing. There's nothing wrong with that!"_

_The expression of fury on her face almost made him step back. _

_"A situation that we aren't capable of facing, Sage? We've been here the entire time! Who do you think Damian is messing with the most! Who do you think he crawls around singing to in the middle of the night, whispering to in the middle of the day?" Cassie yelled, slim shoulders shaking. _

_"And that puts you in all the more danger, Cass! _

_"I'm blind! Say it Sage! I'm not capable of helping or contributing or keeping anyone safe because I'm blind! I'm a danger to you and everyone else!"_

_"I didn't say that Cass…"_

_"But you think it! Come on Sage, don't be a wuss now. Say it!"_

_"Cassie, quit it."_

_"Say it Sage! Say you think I'm helpless! Say you think I can't do anything but hold you back. Say it!"_

_"Cassie! Stop!"_

_"Say it Sage!"_

_"Fine! You want me to be honest? You're BLIND Cassie! You can't see a thing! You can't keep from falling over a chair that's been moved six inches! So yes! You can't help, you can't fight, and you're going to get yourself killed because you're convinced that you're more capable than you are. You're as bad as Mia! The only one of you with a brain is Nikki; she knows she's weak! The rest of you are too stupid and stubborn to get that! Is that what you want to hear!" Sage took a deep breath and realized what he had said. He stared in horror at the girl in front of him. Her face was cool and unreadable._

_"Go away, Sage," Cassie spoke softly. Sage inadvertently reached out his hand to her. _

_"Cass," he started, but she turned her back on him again. With a snarl of frustration, Sage whirled around and left the room, barely keeping himself from striking the doorframe in fury. When the sounds of his footfalls had gone, the blonde turned to the figure she had known was standing next to her the entire fight._

_"Did you enjoy the show?" she asked coldly, forcing her voice to stay calm. She couldn't see the grin but she could feel his mirth rising off of him in waves._

_"Immensely. You're quite a little actress. I assume you just wanted to get him away from me, my dear child?" He asked politely._

_"I want you away from all of us, you sick freak," Cassie replied bitterly. She felt his hand rest on her shoulder and did everything she could not to scream. He started to hum quietly._

_"One…two…kick off my shoes…" Cassie went cold. _

_"Three…four…close the door…" Her bedroom door slammed shut. Inside she screamed for Sage, begged him to forgive her and to come back. For him to rescue her from this. She wanted Cye and his gentle hands. She wanted her mother and her loving hugs. She wanted anything. Anything at all. Anything but _this

_"Five…six…punish this bitch…" A small squeak of terror escaped Cassie's throat and she told herself that this was all going to be over soon. That she was protecting them, the ones she loved. That she was buying them time. Even blind, she still squeezed her eyes shut._

_Seven…eight…open the gate…" The same horrible sound of ripping, of something tearing a hole into the air in her room. And the sounds on the other side…they were almost worse than anything else about this. A strong arm gripped her by the throat and laughed. This time she actually did scream. It pulled her to her feet and across the room. _

_Then the girl was gone. Her room was empty. No one came to bother her. Sage had told them to leave her alone. After a long while the same ripping noise came back and that same slim blonde girl fell to her knees on the thick carpet, face tear-streaked, body shaking. Phantom fingers touched her cheek lovingly, the voice whispering in her ear even as the presence left the room._

_"Nine…ten…do it again…" _

_Cassie curled up in a ball and cried. Outside her room White Blaze crouched protectively, tail twitching, face on his front paws, eyes riveted on Mia's study._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Part of my job is spent trying to find archeological dig sites," Mia said. "I was sent an article talking about the importance of this area during the same time the Ronin Warriors first were referenced historically. Even though the article didn't mention it, I thought it might be possible to find a site that had relevance to the Ronin armors. I sent a preliminary expedition out and the cave was eventually found. I needed Nikki here to bring more notoriety to the dig, plus I needed her help. She not only understood the history of the Ronin armors, but the danger of the last real threat you guys faced."

"You mean we've fought this guy before?" Ryo asked, already knowing the answer before he asked it. Mia remained quiet for a while before she nodded her head in affirmation.

"Yes. It was right after you guys were done with high school. I had spent some time in the States working in tandem with a research group at UCLA. That's where I met Nikki. She was a grad student too, only she had already written her thesis and was just finishing up some credits. I convinced her to come visit Japan with me and do some independent research. She did, and at first it was great. Her Japanese was horrible but she picked it up fast."

Mia stopped talking and fidgeted with her hair, her eyes glazing over slightly.

"Then it came," she said softly.

"Who, Damian?" Cye asked. A pained look crossed Mia's face.

"Could you please not call him that, Cye?" Mia asked, her voice strained. "Please?" Cye looked at her, confused, but nodded slowly.

"It came. And it was a pretty bad time. Then we found a way to seal it off. We thought that meant destroying it, but we were wrong. It obviously found a way back. So now we're here, and hopefully somewhere in this place is an answer to how to defeat it. Because if there's not, then I have no clue where to look next. I have no idea." Mia slumped against the wall, sounding defeated and exhausted.

"Question, Mia," Rowen spoke up. "Why is it that none of us remember all this? But why do you two girls have no problem recollecting?"

"It had to do with the last fight with it, Rowen," Mia answered, her voice getting even softer. "It affected all of you guys, wiping everything out of your memories that had happened. When we realized that, we left it that way."

"What gave you that right?" Cye demanded angrily. Mia just looked away, closing her eyes. She clamped her mouth tight, indicating she wasn't planning on saying any more.

"No way, don't you do that to us now Mia! Not when you're finally talking!" Rowen strode forward angrily. Cye and Kento intervened, telling Rowen to chill out. Rowen tried to push through them to talk to Mia face to face, but then Ryo started yelling at all of them to cut it out, they had bigger problems to deal with. Mia kept her eyes squeezed shut.

It was Nikki's eyes that snapped open and she stared in horror at the thing above her. _He_ looked down and placed a finger to _his_ mouth. Her lips parted but no scream came out. _He_ ran a fingernail lightly across her lower lip, watching a thin trail of red that appeared afterwards. _He_ leaned over and lovingly licked it off. Then _He_ grinned at her and began humming. Her eyes rolled back in her head and _He_ once more turned to the drama in front of _him_.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sage drifted again, trying to sort and compartmentalize the images and voices being thrust upon him. Some he understood because he was there and involved. Others were harder to place, conversations he'd never heard, things he wasn't supposed to know. Sage drifted…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"We need to talk," Cye said quietly, emerging from the trees surrounding the clearing. Here was where Sage went to think, when life got complicated. As it had been so much lately. He hadn't even realized his friend knew to find him here, deep within the Date property. Sage opened his eyes regretfully, still not ready for this conversation. He knew it had been coming, but hadn't pushed the issue. It seemed Cye was willing to do that for him. _

_"Sure, Cye," Sage inclined his head politely, keeping his limbs relaxed and folded. The rusty haired warrior seated himself in front of Halo, adopting the same position. Sea blue eyes regarded Sage seriously, and Sage pushed aside the temptation to turn away. He had nothing to hide. Neither one of them did. But still…Sage waited for Cye to start. It seemed Cye was as reluctant as he was. Finally Cye grunted and leaned back, fingers digging into the dirt. A small rueful grin was on his face._

_"This really sucks, you know that?" Cye said. Sage, caught by surprise, stared at him for a moment. Then he smiled slightly as well. _

_"I agree," Sage inclined his head once more. A bigger grin stretched out on Cye's face._

_"So. You want to duke it out?" he asked playfully. _

_"Excuse me?" Sage asked, confused. Cye imitated a few boxing moves in the air, then took a pretend uppercut to the jaw._

_"You know, duke it out, fight for her honor, beat the crap out of each other until the most masculine and worthy wins the hand of the girl?" Cye's eyes were twinkling. Sage shook his head._

_"I can't believe you're making a joke about this all," Sage commented, unfolding one of his legs and leaning forward on it. Cye merely shrugged._

_"What do you want me to do? Be angry? Be furious? Hate you and try to hurt you?" Cye glanced away and when his eyes returned they were more serious. "Sage we're friends. Not only that, we're comrades. I adore the girl but what happens if we let it come between us and we can't fight together? There's more than ourselves we have to think about. We both know what the ancient said. There's important battles ahead that we have to be ready for. We both know the consequences of not being ready. I'm not willing to lose her, but I'm not willing to lose anybody else either."_

_"So we let her pick?" Sage asked his friend. Cye again shrugged, this time the rueful grin back._

_"Would it matter? She wouldn't pick either one of us over the other. She wouldn't do that. You know it as well as I do. And she won't turn us against each other."_

_"So we're at a standstill," Sage concluded._

_"Yep."_

_Silence, then, "this sucks."_

_"That's what I said already." Cye chuckled. "But I figure all we have to do is get through all this crap with Damian and we'll deal with it then. Until then, we both acknowledge each other is crazy about her and deal with it as best we can."_

_Sage nodded and gave his friend a half smile. Cye returned it and looked around, breathing in deeply. _

_"I can see why you come here, Sage. It's very peaceful." Cye reached forward and clasped hands with the blonde man in front of him, before rising. He turned and started to leave. Right before he reached the tree line he paused. Without looking over his shoulder he spoke softly._

_"When this is over, we will end up fighting for her," Cye said, staring off into the distance. _

_"No we won't," Sage replied, voice firm. Cye tipped his head to the side and thought about it. Then he squared his shoulders and smiled, nodding his head, seeming reassured by Sage's words. After he left the blonde sat for a very long time, watching the place where his friend had disappeared. Unlike Cye, his words weren't a comfort. They had come unbidden, but he had known the truth of them the instant they had left his mouth. He and Cye would never fight over Cassie. _

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sage opened his eyes and saw the others fighting. As angry as he was with her, he knew Mia was right. He had let his emotions get away with him. He should have seen through the illusion that he was choking to death. Except it had felt so very real. Whatever that thing was, it was a master at manipulation. Sage's head started spinning and he leaned back, closing his eyes once more. _He_ sat down next to Sage and looked at him curiously. Then _He_ too crossed _his_ legs and leaned against the wall, one eye closed peacefully, the other still watching the arguing Ronins with growing interest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nikki woke up with a start, head amazingly clear. She'd been falling. She'd been screaming. She'd hit the ground but not that hard. She hadn't fallen far, but the shock of it had scared her enough that she'd passed out. She'd woken up. She'd seen _him_. _The humming…_

Nikki struggled to sit, pushing her body upwards on shaky limbs. She looked around and saw Mia and the others, Rowen yelling as always and Mia's eyes closed, face turned away. _He was there_. They had to find him!

"Mia," Nikki said, finding that her voice was small and hurt to speak. Her throat felt torn, probably from the screaming she done. No one heard her. She rose unsteadily and cast around. Sage was sitting by the wall, eyes closed. Nikki turned away to the others. _He_ winked at her as well. Cye noticed the dark haired woman stumbling towards them and he jumped forward, catching her arm to steady her.

"Nikki! Are you alright?" Cye asked, full of concern. She turned huge, scared eyes at him and suddenly Cye reeled back, face shocked. Then he wheeled, yelling.

"He's here! The thing, he's here!" Cye said, causing the others to snap towards him.

"What?" Ryo demanded, "where?" Kento yanked on his helmet instantly and swung around, while Rowen and Ryo called their armors.

"I don't know, but he's here. He was messing with Nikki when she was out. Somehow we can't see him," Cye replied, positioning himself protectively at Nikki's side. Nikki grabbed onto Cye's arm, and the Ronin of Torrent turned to where she was pointing at Sage. The blonde warrior hadn't moved, even when Cye had shouted the alert.

Mia moved from behind the others and to Nikki's other side, her eyes riveted on Sage. He seemed at peace, eyes closed. Then she slowly approached him, one hand gripping the pendent at her throat.

"Mia, be careful!" Ryo said sharply, stepping behind her and drawing both of his swords. Mia didn't reply but she did pause until Ryo had reached her side before continuing. Her eyes flickered back and forth as she looked towards Sage but not directly at him.

"Sage?" she asked gently, voice calm. The blonde warrior didn't move a muscle or acknowledge her in any way. Mia knelt down in front of him, eyes narrowed as they moved across his face, along the stone behind his head, down his arms. She leaned forward, until her nose was almost touching his and whispered almost inaudibly,

"Where are you, you son of a bitch?'

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sage drifted faster, until he felt an overwhelming spinning sensation. His instincts told him to fight it, that he needed to get up and out of there _now_, but the memories wouldn't let him. They kept on coming…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_A hand lightly grasped her arm and but Mia still yelped, whirling around and striking out._

_"Easy!" he exclaimed, rubbing his shoulder where she'd thumped him. "Relax! It's just me. Relax." She blushed and looked embarrassed, murmuring a quick apology. He gave her a reassuring smile and she smiled back, albeit a bit strained. She relaxed back against the kitchen counter and looked at him sheepishly._

_"Sorry. I've been a bit jumpy lately," she explained. He shrugged as if it was fine, brushing it off as if it didn't matter. She liked that about him. He never made her feel stupid when she reacted or over reacted to things. He didn't criticize her or give her condescending looks. He'd probably never know how much she appreciated it. Considering she was normally the odd one out, being the only girl of the six-person/ one cat group, she liked feeling as if she belonged. _

_"Like we all haven't been, too," he replied, moving past her to the refrigerator. He stuck his head inside and poked around. Finally he pulled back, looking disappointed._

_"Nothing look good?" she asked._

_"Naw," he shrugged. "It's okay. I've sort of lost my appetite anyway. What with everything." He didn't elaborate. He didn't need to. Mia knew exactly what he was talking about. He took a mostly empty jug of milk out and closed the door, leaning back on it. He sniffed the milk twice before drinking it. At the first taste, his nose twitched with displeasure, but he continued drinking it anyway._

_"That's almost bad, you know," Mia reminded him, wincing at the motherly sound to her voice. These guys were younger than her, but not by much, and she hated feeling like she was a caretaker or something. They didn't seem to mind when she slipped up, and it wasn't as if she hadn't caught them being protective and overbearing upon occasion. All of them, even the cool and distant Sage. _

_He shrugged at her comment and took another drink. _

_"It's either this or one of Kento's soft drinks. I hate that stuff; it's so bad for you." He drained the milk and set the empty jug on the container. Mia curiously watched him open a cabinet and pull out a white folded bag. He carefully measured out a cup and a half of flour and transferred it to the milk jug. He grabbed the saltshaker and tipped in about a tablespoon, nodding in satisfaction. He took it to the sink and slowly added water, stopping every so often to shake it. When the volume was approximately what he'd started with before drinking, he calmly recapped it and placed the concoction back in the refrigerator. He positioned it carefully in the same place, adjusting it twice before he was satisfied. Mia looked at him in horror._

_"What the heck are you doing?" she demanded. "The next person that drinks that is going to be disgusted!"_

_"I know," he said calmly, brushing hair out of his face. "That's the idea. Later Mia." He smiled a small smile at her as he left the kitchen. _

_"You guys are awful!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. He just shrugged as the door closed behind him. Just then Rowen and Kento burst through the other door loudly. Both boys were bare-chested and slick with sweat._

_"Hey Mia!" Kento said brightly, stopping by to give her a friendly sweaty hug. _

_"Ump! Kendo wor desgusding!" came her muffled voice as he trapped her against his chest. He released her and ruffled her hair as if she was six, causing the now smelly and sweaty Mia to glare at him irritably. _

_"What?" he asked innocently. Suddenly behind them they heard the most dramatic overdone eruption that Mia had ever heard. Rowen was bent over, spitting violently onto the floor, face an amusing shade of purple, the milk jug clenched in one hand. He spat several times more before throwing the carton across the counter._

_"SAGE!" Rowen roared, heading out of the kitchen with a royally pissed off look on his face. The door smacked his back as he went through. "It was just a freaking bamboo flute, Sage! Fine! I'll buy you a new flute! Will that make you happy, you big baby? Will it? SAGE!"_

_Kento and Mia stared after Rowen, speechless until a blonde head popped through the back door. Sage gave them a grin. Before he disappeared he winked at Mia._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was nose to nose with Sage when his eyes slowly opened and he winked at Mia. The next few moments were a complete blur. Sage seemed to uncoil like a snake, lunging forward and striking out with an armored fist. Being the only one not in full armor, he moved faster than anyone could've believed, striking the side of Mia's face. She cried out as she was hit, crimson speckling the white part of Sage's subarmor. She fell to the side, just as Sage came flying forward, landing face down, his fists closed in around something beneath him.

White Blaze roared and shoved past Ryo, leaping under Sage, claws digging into the dirt beneath him. They heard a high-pitched screech, cut off by the tiger snapping his huge jaws around something none of them could see. He snapped his head back and forth, jaws wide but obviously biting down on something until his teeth suddenly hit together. The large animal jerked back from the force of it, obviously in pain.

Sage moved back. Beneath him there was still nothing, but the warrior of Halo looked more at ease. The tiger too. In fact, Ryo noticed that the slowly building feeling of dread he'd experienced the last two days was lessened. The importance of that chilled him to his bones.

Rowen stood back, a look of amazement, confusion, and relief on his face. He shoved a blue lock of hair away from his eyes and said the only thing his genius mind could think to say.

"Shit."


	13. Chapter 13 Part One

A/N Hello! One clarification I want to make before everyone reads is that the flashbacks are set before Message and the actual story is set afterwards. Any concerns and comments Kento has about the armors are related to the original armors. The OVA's are confusing but I will be writing under the following assumptions: In Kikoutei Densetsu the Armor of Inferno disappears at the end, but the actual armors do not. In Message, Rowen says that after Kikoutei Densetsu the armors eventually disappeared. For my fic they hadn't disappeared yet. In Message the Ronins call their old armors but end up receiving their new armors (generally speaking, I know it's much more complex than that). So I assume that after Kikoutei Densetsu they had access to the old armors but not Inferno. We could have a month long debate on it, and actually it's been discussed in great detail at the forum, but for now that's where I'm coming from.

I don't own the Ronin Warriors and constructive criticism is always welcome. Hope you like.

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter Thirteen (Part One)

_Mia sat back in the large wooden reclining chair and adjusted her sunglasses. She gathered her long red hair in one hand and twisted it around itself before resting her head once more on her folded towel. She sighed in pleasure. Beside her Nikki lay sprawled on her stomach, the hot sun beating down on her back. She was starting to sweat and her already brown skin was turning pinker by the moment, but the American girl looked in heaven._

_"This, my dear friend," Nikki drawled, her words muffled from her face being buried in her own towel, "is why you should have come to stay with me longer as opposed to me coming to stay with you. The weather is like this every day, not every so often. Imagine the tans, Mia. Imagine them."_

_Mia chuckled and looked over at Nikki._

_"True, but imagine the skin cancer Nik, imagine the skin cancer."_

_Nikki grunted a bit sourly, as she had been doing more and more often lately. Sometimes Mia wondered at how different Nikki seemed compared to the joyful, laid back grad student she'd met at UCLA. This Nikki was growing meaner and unhappier by the day. _

_"Mia, in America you die from opulence. Skin cancer from lying out in the sun all day instead of working. Obesity and heart disease from enjoying way too much really good food. Strokes because we refuse to give up our tasty nicotine addictions. We don't exercise because we have liposuction to do that for us. So we die. But here in Japan? No, you die from evil demons that come to terrorize you in the middle of the night while they whisper they want to eat different parts of you. Demons obsessed with odd numbers that leave strangled bunnies on your front doorstep like some sick demented cat; one, three, five in a row. No, here in Japan you have to die in mind-numbing terror, not of a good old heart attack." Nikki grunted again and rolled onto her back, the imprint of the wooden slats of the chair reddening her stomach. _

_Yes, Nikki was growing more unhappy by the day._

_"Nikki, it could be worse," the blonde on Mia's other side spoke up in her soft voice. Cassie had been convinced to join them, after much pushing from the other two girls. Cassie was almost painfully shy, and was wearing shorts and a tee shirt to sunbathe in instead of the offered spare bathing suit. _

_"How's that?" the dark haired girl asked grumpily. A small smile graced Cassie's face._

_"You could have five boys all staring at you because your bikini top just slipped."_

_Nikki jumped and grabbed her top, before realizing that her bikini was just fine, and there was no way Cassie would have been able to know anyway. She blushed, then laughed despite herself. _

_"Okay fine, I'll try to be in a better mood, if that's what you're trying for Cass," Nikki said, still hiking up her top just in case. "Gee Mia, these things are a little skimpy don't you think?"_

_Mia grinned and looked at Nikki over her glasses._

_"The better to confuse them with my dear," she intoned. Nikki rolled her eyes._

_"Confuse whom with? Not one of the guys, definitely. Those boys don't even recognize you as being female. You're like a skinnier smarter version of, well, them."_

_Mia gave Nikki a mildly offended expression._

_"They know I'm a female," Mia argued. "They just look at me more sisterly than anything else. Stop looking at me like that! Just because they think of me as a friend instead of a-"_

_"Girl. Woman. She who has breasts and needs too?" Nikki supplied. Mia gave Nikki a mean look. _

_"I don't see why it should matter anyways," Mia replied, aloof. "I'm not interested in any of them."_

_"No?"_

_"No!"_

_"No."_

_"Exactly."_

_"Bullshit."_

_"Nikki, if you're implying that I'm secretly lusting after one of these boys, who I might add are several years younger than me, then you have definitely fallen off your rocker. I'm more interested in the older scholarly type." Mia adjusted her sunglasses again primly._

_Nikki gave her a wicked grin._

_"Ohhh, Mia. You horrible thing, you! Lusting after your professors. Which one was it? It was the Urban Myths prof wasn't it? He was pretty hot if you ignore the fact he was in his early sixties. But hey, I hear they're doing great things with herbal performance enhancers-" _

_"Nikki!" Mia's yell cut her off, as did the following whack of a towel._

_"Okay, okay," Nikki laughed, holding up her hands for protection. "I'll leave you and your beau alone."_

_"Dr. Chiang was a very nice man I'll have you know and there was no sort of impropriety ever in our relationship," Mia informed them. _

_"Oh. Okay," Nikki said. She sat quietly for a moment before a small smile snuck on her face and she added, "So you're admitting you DID have a relationship though-"_

_Cassie laughed at the following sounds of Nikki yelping and a towel repeatedly smacking something. When the two girls had finally settled down, Cassie asked curiously._

_"Mia? May I ask a personal question?" Mia gave the blonde a surprised look. _

_"Sure, Cass. What is it?"_

_"Well, isn't it hard being friends with so many guys when you're the only female? Or not being uncomfortable around them? It seems like it would be weird sometimes." Cassie stared straight ahead at nothing and Mia couldn't help but follow her gaze to the water. She wondered if Cassie had any idea the beauty of the world that she was missing, and she desperately hoped not. Mia shrugged and thought about the answer. Generally if someone asked they would get the regular 'nope, they're like brothers to me and life's always peachy' reply, but Mia didn't want to brush off one of the few female friends she had. _

_"Yeah, it can be hard. For instances, they all are so tightly knit together. It's kind of like being the team mascot, you're there and involved but not _really_ part of the group. You're needed, but...not really necessary. And they _are_ guys. So it's not really an option to go see a movie on Saturday nights that doesn't involve explosions or gore or crude humor. Except for Rowen that is. He'll go to a chick flick just for the opportunity to make fun of it the entire time. We don't go shopping unless it's for car parts or weapons or videogames. And sometimes I'm completely out of the loop because they all have a general idea what each other is feeling and doing. It's like I'm the only one who's clueless._

"_But there's some really great parts about it too. They always have my back, and I know I can go to any of them if I have a problem. They listen, even if they don't always understand. Ryo especially. He'll sit there for hours listening to me rant about things that I'm upset about. And Kento seems to always instinctively know if something's wrong. He'll come up a give me these great big hugs and it's so hard to be mad after that. Sage seems quiet and withdrawn but he can be very protective. _

"_We all went out one night to this club, since I'd been bugging the guys to go with me for weeks. It was a lot of fun, even if not all the guys felt comfortable dancing. It was pretty late when we finally left, and I have to admit that I'd had a little too much to drink. I was kind of drifting as I was walking and accidentally ran into this guy. I apologized but he didn't take it very well; he might have been a little drunk too. Sage stepped in and politely told the gentleman to go about his business. I'm not sure exactly what the guy called me, but one moment he was standing there arguing and the next Sage had laid him out cold in the street. A bit overboard maybe, but it was still nice to have someone stand up for me. I grew up pretty solitary and that's a relatively new thing for me._

"_So yeah, it can be hard. But I wouldn't change my relationship with them for the world. Those guys matter more to me than anything, Cass."_

_"You're lucky to have friends like that, Mia," Cassie smiled gently. Mia reached over and squeezed her hand. _

_"You're right about that, Cass."_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mia seemed to be oblivious to the glares coming from the others, her face frozen in an uncaring grimace. Nikki had migrated to her side and the two girls remained silent, something they were all getting pretty used to, Ryo thought. Sage had positioned himself in the center of the group, holding out his sword to illuminate the area around them equally in all directions. They had formed a loose circle with the girls in the middle ahead of Sage.

Kento was leading them deeper into the cavern, having placed himself securely between Nikki and Mia and anything that might come out of the darkness ahead of them. Cye and Ryo had taken opposite sides to keep watch and Rowen was bringing up the rear with White Blaze. Each made sure they didn't step out of the nonexistent protection of the light. It was purely psychological, and they knew it, but they still did it anyway.

They moved because they had no other choice, really. Either they could stay in one place and hope that they would somehow magically escape this cage of darkness, or they could do something about it. Ryo figured Sage and White Blaze had bought them some time but not much. For now they had to move as fast as they could.

Kento was staring ahead with a look of determination on his usually friendly face. His eyes were narrowed in a way that triggered a familiar feeling in Ryo, and not one he was completely comfortable with. Kento's body stance showed he was ready to fight even though he was walking. Kento glanced over his shoulder, giving Ryo a speculative look. Ryo's head swum a moment; déjà vu almost overtaking him before he shook his head to clear it away. Rowen had started muttering angrily behind Ryo, but Ryo didn't catch what he was saying. Nikki's body had tensed and Mia could have had a steel rod running down her spine, as upright as she was holding herself. Rowen muttered again and this time Nikki snapped back angrily. Ryo's eyes caught the flicker of the light off a piece of crystal or shiny rock in the far off ceiling of the cavern, and it twinkled at him like a star up in the sky. Déjà vu hit him again and his eyes stayed on the rocks above him, unseeing.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"Hey Ryo," Kento said cheerfully, coming up from behind Ryo and joining him on the balcony. _

_"Hey Kento," Ryo said quietly, eyes glazed off into the distance. The Ronin of Hardrock gave his leader a speculative look then leaned forward casually on his elbows. He didn't say anything, just watched what Ryo was watching. The night sky was particularly clear tonight and hundreds of stars winked in and out at him, making Kento feel small. He wondered how Rowen could feel joy up in all that emptiness. Kento liked having the earth underneath his feet. He liked the reassurance of being able to hold on and feeling grounded. The earth was his anchor, his guide, and sometimes he wondered if it wasn't the constantly changing aspects of the Halo, Strata, and Torrent armors that set him apart from his comrades. The nature of those armors was to flow, the movement of water and light, the shift of the stars. It took his friends in different directions each day, shifting them in minute ways. Kento wondered if anyone else noticed it. Those three were constantly moving and seeking, even Halo. Sage could meditate and center himself all he wanted, but Kento had the feeling that it would never matter. Sage would be pulled out of his comfort zone and taken where his armor dictated. Kento also had the feeling that the outward serenity of his friend was a mask for the uncertainties Sage felt. The three were tied together in ways that they didn't even realize. _

_Then there was Ryo, bearer of the armor of Wildfire. Kento had his thoughts on his leader's armor, too. He has watched Ryo play with fire, physically and metaphorically. One spark could start a raging uncontrollable inferno, and Ryo spent every day fighting with himself for control. Kento had seen the gleam in Ryo's eyes when he let a flame build a bit too high, burn a bit too hot. He envisioned Wildfire standing at the edge of a cliff, toeing the edge, balanced perfectly and praying a gust of wind didn't come._

_What scared Ryo the most? Was it that they all turned to him for the final say? That it was his decision what battles to fight, and that the consequences of those battles would end up weighing the heaviest on him? Or was it himself? The nature of his armor was to burn and destroy, to build and grow until nothing could stand in its path. Kento believed that none of them had even begun to tap their true potential with these armors, but how much was enough? How much were they willing to lose of themselves to find out? The other three's natures might be to flow and change, but Ryo's was to consume everything in his path. Maybe they didn't want to know the true natures of their armors._

_Kento stared up at the night sky and smiled at the irony of it all. He was thanking his lucky stars that he'd received the armor that he had. His armor he could understand. But maybe the others were thankful they didn't have the Hardrock armor. Their natures were made to fit their armors and they didn't realize the downsides to the armors. Rowen probably stared up at the night sky and felt at peace. Cye wanted to drift along with the flow of life. Sage felt the warmth of light on his skin and found inner strength. Kento, he needed his feet on solid rock. Only then did he feel like he would be able to get through all of this._

_But Ryo…would he ever feel anything but the fight for control? Would he ever be at peace? Would he ever be able to relax and not fight himself? Would he ever go just a bit too far? Was that what all this Damian crap was all about?_

_It was almost as if Ryo had heard his thoughts, because he stood up and thrust his hands into his pockets, face upturned, tiger-blue eyes large and confused._

_"Why does he go after everyone but me, Kento?" Ryo asked quietly. "Why does he mess with every single one of you but leave me completely alone? I don't see things, I don't hear things. Nothing goes bump in the night for me. I don't understand. Why? What does he want with everyone else?"_

_Kento looked over at his leader and gave him a small rueful grin._

"_Are you so sure he doesn't go after you, Ryo?" Kento wondered. Ryo turned and gave Hardrock a confused look. Kento looked down at the driveway, absently noticing that the air in Mia's Jeep's front tire was low. He'd have to fix that for her before she got a flat. _

"_Think about it Ryo. What better way to mess with you than to leave you alone?" Kento reached his hand around to scratch his back, face thoughtful. _

"_You always take so much upon yourself Ryo. You're the leader, you're the point man. The warlords, Talpa, Kayura, they all went after you. They wanted your armor, true, but the attacks were centered around destroying you. So here we are, being attacked by something that is completely different. Nine times out of ten this thing has done it's damage before we even realize we've been hit. We're scared and we don't trust what we see and hear. And the one person who is the most used to direct attacks is being left alone, like he doesn't even matter. You're just the rest of us Ryo, you want an enemy you can fight. How can you fight something that seems to have no inclination to come around you? It doesn't care about the power of your armor. You don't matter."_

"_Why Kento?" Ryo asked softly._

"_Because I think this thing is enjoying itself. It's upsetting you just as much as it is the rest of us. It's just doing it in it's own way. Pretty fucking effective. It has all our numbers." Kento looked down and studied the railing._

"_Except yours Kento," Ryo replied with a halfhearted smile. "You seem to have a pretty good grasp of this thing."_

"_I'm just as scared as the rest of you," Kento whispered. Then a humorless grin split his face. "But you know what, man? I think maybe it stays away from you for another reason."_

"_What's that?"_

"_Could be it's not sure when you're going to snap and bring this place down all around us. You're stronger than you've ever been, Ryo. Could be you have the ability to hurt it more than you know. Play with fire long enough and you will eventually get burned." _

_Ryo gave Kento a small smile and shook his head. He stepped forward and rested a hand on Hardrock's shoulder. _

"_Kento, do we underestimate you?" he joked. Kento however took the question seriously, his face echoing the seriousness of his words._

"_Maybe. Maybe we all underestimate each other. Those girls in there do."_

"_How do you know that?" Ryo wondered, glancing over his shoulder to the others seated inside in the living room._

"_Watch their faces. Watch Mia's. They try to hide it, but you can see the despair in their eyes. They're on the edge now, and are ready to try something desperate." Kento turned to look in at the others as well. Nikki was saying something to Mia quietly, then looked out the sliding door to see Kento and Ryo watching them. She gave them a small tight smile and turned away. Kento felt his stomach tighten uncomfortably and he faced the railing once more. _

"_Keep your eye on them Ryo. I love them, but I'm starting to not trust them." Ryo looked surprised then his eyes narrowed. He nodded at Kento and returned inside. Kento waited until the door was shut before hoping up on the railing, lightly dropping down a story to the driveway below. He walked across the loose stone until his feet hit grass. Kento knelt down and shoved his hands into the ground, beneath the grass and into the cool soil below. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes. _There's more than one way to meditate_, he thought to himself. _

_Kento would never admit it to anyone had they asked, but the earth spoke to him. Well, not exactly _spoke,_ but when he stopped and listened, he could swear he could feel the earth's mood. He knew when it was relaxed and silent and when it felt like shaking itself apart in anger. Now? Now all was calm. _

_Something sparked unbidden in Kento's mind and he rose, walking closer to the house. Mia had planted a flower garden all around the outside of her home, and he hadn't noticed before but the tiny plants were starting to wither and some had already died. Kento sank down to a knee in between flowers and drove his hand into the recently tilled ground, fingers brushing the foundation of the house. A chill ran through Kento as he knelt there. He finally moved back, soil spilling between his fingers. He stared at the house a long time before he took a deep breath and moved back inside. He chose to not tell anyone that the very earth touching the house was trembling. Not an earthquake, not that violent, but the dirt had shivered beneath his hands. _

_It was better not to say anything. Everyone was already scared enough._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone was in various stages of fear and confusion and Ryo knew he was going to have to do something about it soon. They were all fighting with each other, and his instincts told him that this was exactly what the enemy wanted. And the enemy was still out there, Ryo knew it down in his bones, and the last thing they needed to be doing was helping that sick freak any more than they already had. He didn't know why the thing was messing with everyone else so much and leaving him alone, but Ryo was done standing on the sidelines. This had all gone on long enough.

"Rowen," Ryo said in a deceptively quiet voice, stopping short. "Stop talking."

Rowen turned his glare to Ryo and started to open his mouth in protest, but the dangerous expression on his leader's face stopped him in his tracks. The others turned as well when Rowen went silent.

"Mia," Ryo said to the redhead. Mia looked at him warily. Ryo motioned for her to come closer. The look on her face said that she would rather do anything else but that, but she hesitantly stepped forward. Ryo waited until she had reached his side before taking her arm and guiding her a few paces away from the others. When they were out of earshot, he leaned down and spoke quietly in her ear. The woman's face was a myriad of emotions, flashing between anger and embarrassment to shame. Her face paled at one point and she pulled back, but Ryo's hand on her arm kept her close. Finally she bowed her head and nodded. Ryo returned to the group, Mia at his heel. She kept her eyes firmly on the ground, gripping her pack with white knuckles.

"Here's the deal guys," Ryo said firmly. "The fighting stops now. I don't care who is angry with whom, and who wants to yell at whom. I don't care who lied and who left what out. I don't care whatever the hell it was that led us to where we are right now, all I care about is creaming this asshole and getting everyone home in one piece. If anyone suddenly out of the blue remembers something weird, deal with it. If it could help fight this guy, then share. If you remember that you used to be in loving relationship with White Blaze, or something else equally screwed up, keep your mouth shut until we're home. We'll figure the rest of it all out when we get back."

"Mia's agreed to help by telling us everything she knows about this guy," Ryo looked back at her pointedly. Mia's eyes hardened but she remained silent. "If you ask her something, ask nice. She'll tell you what she knows so don't push her. And she will tell you _everything_ she knows so if it isn't enough, deal with that too."

At the emphasis in his sentence Mia flinched but Ryo's eyes were now fixed on Rowen's. The blue haired man stared back a long moment before looking away. Ryo nodded in satisfaction as he finished with, "I'm only going to say this once."

No one said anything.

Ryo motioned for Kento to continue into the depths of the cavern, the greenish white glow of Sage's sword reflecting off of the Hardrock armor. Kento cast a look at Mia, not quite sympathetic, and continued on. The others retained their loose circle and followed. Ryo kept Mia close at his side, an act that once would have given her comfort, he knew. Now she looked like she'd rather be anywhere else in the world. Her hand kept straying to the necklace she wore, and she stared off into the distance. Ryo reached over and grabbed her hand. Mia looked up at him in surprise.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Ryo reached down and grabbed Mia's hand. She looked up at him in surprise as he pulled her easily to her feet._

_"Come on," he said, blue eyes twinkling, heading off into the woods, half dragging her with him._

_"Ryo," Mia laughed, "stop pulling me so hard. Where are we going?" _

_Ryo just shot her a grin over his shoulder and continued into the vegetation. Once Mia's large house and all the guests roaming around outside were out of view, Ryo stopped and stepped away from her. There was a soft clicking noise as Ryo's white and red subarmor wrapped itself around him, and he stood there smiling. Mia however was not amused._

_"Ryo! Quick, take it off! What if someone saw you! There's plenty of history enthusiasts here that might be able to figure out-" Mia started in worriedly, but Ryo just reached out and took her hand again. He wrapped an arm around her and laughed, planting an armored foot into the ground and pushing off. Mia yelped in surprise and threw her arms around Ryo's neck as they flew through the air, bouncing from one tree limb to the next. Mia had never been that crazy about this form of travel but kept her mouth shut until they finally landed on real ground again. She schooled her face into composure, but was a little late from the amusement on Ryo's face. She rolled her eyes at him._

"_Okay," Mia said, looking around. There was nothing different about where they were except that the trees were taller and further apart. Ryo had taken her deeper into the forest than she normally went. "So you have me here. What's so great about here?"_

_Ryo ran a hand through his messy black hair and looked a little sheepish. _

"_Well, nothing really," Ryo admitted, looking up at the nearest tree. He walked up to it and ran hand down its rough bark. "It's just you looked really strained there, like you weren't having much fun. I figured you might want to get away for a while." _

_Mia gave him a smile and shook her head. "Ryo, not all these gatherings I have to go to and host are for fun. Why do you think I always drag you guys with me? You help make the time pass faster. But I have to do them. It's important for my career."_

_Ryo turned around and leaned against the tree, sliding to the ground and resting his head back. The trunk was four times his width making the warrior seem smaller than normal. He looked away for a moment, then turned back with a small smile. _

"_I wanted to show you something. Something new. I just learned how to do it," Ryo said, sounding excited. Mia shook her head again but sat down cross-legged in front of him. _

"_Okay, show me."_

_Ryo stretched out his hand, palm up and stared at it in concentration. Mia waited. Ryo's eyes glazed over and his hand started to tremor slightly. A small tendril of smoke rose from the center of his palm. Mia looked into Ryo's eyes and could swear that specks of color had stared to swirl, but right then Ryo dropped his arm, hand closing into a fist. He looked exhausted and disappointed._

_"It worked last time," Ryo said glumly. "It was really cool." Mia reached forward and patted him on the arm sympathetically. "I can't make a very big flame, but it was at least _something_."_

_"It's okay. You can try again later. It's a little cool today, which probably makes it harder," she reasoned. Ryo gave her a thankful look but said nothing. Mia leaned in and fixed him with her 'teacher look'. _

_"Okay buster," she said, "now what's the real reason you drug me all the way out here?" Ryo looked down, blushing slightly._

_"Am I that obvious?" he asked. Mia chuckled._

_"Usually." _

_Ryo stuck his tongue out at her playfully and she swatted him back. Then his face became serious as he looked at her._

_"I heard them talking to you about that job. The one where you'd be working internationally." Ryo big blue eyes seemed sad as he asked, "Are you going to take it?"_

_Mia sighed and she sat back heavily. _

_"I don't know Ryo. It would be good for me professionally. But I love living here. My friends are here. It would be hard. I think that I'm going to see if I like being overseas when I go do that project at UCLA. That'll help me make my decision. If I do take it, it wouldn't be for a while anyways." Mia smiled at her friend, thinking about how close they had become._

_"It wouldn't be as if we couldn't talk to each other all the time, anyway Ryo. I'd just be a phone call away," she added._

_"A phone's not the same as a friend, Mia," Ryo replied softly. Mia reached forward and squeezed his hand._

_"Ryo," Mia said gently, "you are my best friend. You have been for a while now and will continue to be for far longer than you might ever want. That's not something you need to worry about."_

_Ryo looked at her silently for a moment then smiled back. He squeezed her hand in response before standing. _

_"Yeah I guess you're right," he said, unconsciously going through the motions of shoving his hands in his pockets. Mia hid her amusement as his hands slipped right down his sides and flattened. Ryo already looked a little embarrassed and was pulling back from the moment. _

_"Come on," Mia said. "I have a party to get back to. And I need an escort to keep me away from all those stuffy suits hanging around." Mia went to Ryo and placed an arm trustingly around his neck. She felt him grip her around the waist and once more they were flying through the air in great leaps. The wind rushed in her ears and whipped her hair into her face, but for once Mia didn't mind. She trusted her friend, and she guessed there were much worse ways to travel._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Ryo reached for her hand, Mia looked up at him in surprise. He tugged her closer and tilted his head to the side in a way that hopefully kept any of the others from hearing his words too clearly.

"I'm worried about you," Ryo said softly. Mia tipped her head towards his but kept her eyes straight ahead.

"You shouldn't be, I'm fine," Mia replied stiffly. She tried to pull her hand away but he wouldn't let her. "Plus considering that you have no problem threatening me now, I'm not sure why you should bother."

"I got your attention, Mia," Ryo replied gently. "Nothing shorter of that has." He paused for a pregnant uncomfortable moment, then continued.

"Mia…what happened to us? We used to be so close. Why are you fighting us like this? It's not like you. In fact you haven't been you for years now."

"People change, Ryo," Mia muttered. Anyone but him would have missed the slight catch to her voice but Ryo didn't. She tugged again at his hand, but Ryo merely tightened his grip.

"Something made you change. I think I figured out what the hell's going on with this thing." Ryo's eyes narrowed and his armor creaked as he tensed. Across the circle, Cye watched Ryo out of the corner of his eye. When Ryo tensed, Cye unconsciously did the same thing. Simultaneously Rowen tightened his grip on his bow and Sage lifted his sword higher. Even in the front, Kento had paused a half step and was watching the darkness with greater concentration. Mia raised an eyebrow at him, having caught at least Cye and Sage's reactions to their leader.

"This thing got to you girls, didn't it? Before? Some really messed up stuff happened, and you don't want us to know about it. Like the girl Sage was talking about. Someone died and you don't want us to know why or how it went down. I think you girls are as scared of us as you are of this Damian thing," Ryo added. Mia's face went even colder than it had been before.

"I asked you guys to please not call it that," Mia said shortly.

"Why not?" Ryo asked gently, deliberately keeping his voice and tone easy. Obviously yelling at Mia hadn't accomplished anything. Ryo was going to try sugar this time to Rowen and Sage's vinegar.

"Because you make it more human than it is. It's a demon, a monster. Nothing more. If you keep that in mind, you can face it easier. When you give it a name, you give it a face, a personality. It's a _thing_, Ryo," Mia replied, her voice strained. "Never let it be more."

"What did you let it do to you, Mia?" Ryo asked her, voice as tender as he could make it. Mia actually flinched, but she still tried gamely to control her expression.

"Ryo, I said I'd help you but this isn't---" Mia started, words catching in her throat, but Ryo entangled his fingers in hers and pulled her against his side. The contact seemed strange, they had barely spoken for so long, but once upon a time they used to hug and laugh and spend all their time together. Ryo's chest tightened considerably. He'd missed his best friend so very much. It had hurt him immeasurably when she had pulled away from him. He hadn't understood. But he thought he might be closer to getting it now. Ryo did something that he was sure the woman wouldn't appreciate.

Ryo wrapped his arm around her shoulders, letting go of her right hand as he did but immediately catching her left. His armor was bulky, and Mia was even slimmer than she had ever been, so she practically disappeared from view. He had her cocooned and trapped. But the point he was trying so hard to get across was that she was protected. Mia hadn't turned to them for help this entire time. She didn't even ask it from Nikki. Mia was working as if she was completely alone. It was time to get that stopped.

"What did you let it do, Mia?" Ryo pressed again, voice almost completely inaudible to even her. Tears started well up in her eyes but didn't fall. Ryo could see her throat constricting.

"We love you Mia. You're safe now," he told her, trying to get all the concern and care he had in him to come out in his voice. "We're not going to let anything hurt you. Please talk to me. Please…"

The pooling tears started streaming down, but no noise came from her. Mia stared forward, eyes glazed over, looking lost.

"Best friends remember? For far longer than you'll ever want. I'm still holding on to my end of that deal, Mia." Ryo reached his other hand over and kindly touched her chin with his cupped palm. "Where've you been, sweetie?"

A small sob broke out of Mia's mouth, audible to the others, and Ryo drifted away from them as far as he dared, bringing her with him. Eyes strayed their way but turned when met with Ryo's protective look.

"It's a monster, Ryo," Mia whispered, words breaking.

"What did it do to you?"

"I tried Ryo…" Her tears were falling faster now; her eyes clenched shut from old demons Ryo couldn't see.

"It turned us against each other, made us so scared. So…very scared. I tried to fight it, each time I failed. I failed…I couldn't stop it. I tried one last thing…_one horrible thing_…"

"And?"

"And I were wrong…Cassie, she knew…she tried to get us to stop but we were too far in…it…she…she was ripped into pieces, Ryo. The blood…everywhere there was blood…on the walls, everywhere…"

"You didn't know, Mia. Whatever happened, you've never made a bad decision unless you had bad information. You're too smart for that," Ryo tried to reassure her. From up front Kento kept turning around and watching them, face concerned.

"I knew…I knew what would happen…but I couldn't choose…" Mia was sobbing harder now and not making any sense to Ryo, but at the last of her words something sparked in his brain.

"_Oh god, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"_

"_Pick one! Pick or they both die!"_

"_I can't! I CAN'T!"_

"…_I can…"_

"_NO!"_

Ryo's head snapped back at the sudden memory.

"I failed," Mia whispered, head bowed, slim shoulders shaking. Ryo shivered despite himself, thinking back to Kento's words before they had come after the others. Failed.

"But we were so desperate…"

"_Watch their faces. Watch Mia's. They try to hide it, but you can see the despair in their eyes. They're on the edge now, and are ready to try something desperate." Kento turned to look in at the others as well. Nikki was saying something to Mia quietly, then looked out the sliding door to see Kento and Ryo watching them. She gave them a small tight smile and turned away. _

"_Keep your eye on them Ryo. I love them, but I'm starting to not trust them." _

Ryo's head snapped again and he almost pulled away from Mia. Taking a deep breath he forced himself to stay by her side, holding her as they walked. She still wasn't leaning into him, but her hand gripped his so tight it hurt. Ryo shook himself, understanding now why Rowen had seemed so confused and angry. So many emotions had flooded in with the memories, but he didn't understand them or know how to deal with them. He had an overwhelming desire to shove the woman at his side away from him, to maybe even shake her or hit her. Never in his life had he ever wanted to hurt Mia before, and it deeply disturbed him. _At least not that I can remember_, Ryo thought bitterly.

Ryo realized that the others had come to a stop, but instead of watching Mia and him as he'd expected, all eyes were riveted forward. Ryo turned to look at where the others were and for the moment completely forgot everything that was upsetting him. Sage had lifted his sword high above his head and the greenish white light poured all around them, more brilliant than Sage's weapon had ever produced. Ryo's arm dropped away from Mia's shoulders and he stepped forward, past Sage and to Kento's side. The warrior of Hardrock looked at his leader and moved back.

As far as Ryo could see, a hundred feet lower than the ground they were standing on, stretched a great city. The light from Sage's sword was reflecting back and forth between glittering stonewalls and calm fountain pools, illuminating the entire valley.

"Well Mia," Rowen quipped from behind them all, "you found the 'something more' you were complaining about."

Nikki looked at her friend's tearstained face then back at Rowen.

"You're a jackass, you know that?" she bit.

"You love it, sweetheart."

"I'd love for you to shut up for once."

"You'd miss my sexy voice and you know it," Rowen smirked.

"You're right. What's the fun in that?" Nikki agreed. "I just adore your pointless comments. 'Mia, why won't you talk to me when I'm being a complete asshole?' 'Gee, that statue's scary!' 'I'm soooo confused!' 'Oh my god, a _monster_!'"

Rowen gave Nikki a dirty look.

"You're really a bitch you know that?" he muttered. She stuck her lower lip out in a pout, eyes big.

"You mean, big brave Rowen doesn't like me? But I love big brave Rowen!"

Rowen glared at her and walked up to Ryo, looking for a way into the valley. Along the drop off there was a slim path winding down. Ryo had already spied it and was heading down, Kento climbing behind him.

"Just shut up and get down there, Nikki," Rowen growled. Nikki walked past and pouted again, widening her eyes as big as they would get. Rowen flipped her off, but grabbed her hand afterwards and helped her down to the others. Cye came next and gave Rowen an evil grin.

"_I_ love you too, Rowen---" Cye started to say, ducking the swing Strata sent his direction. "Gee, a bit crabby aren't we?" Cye added mildly, a smile on his face. Sage and Mia followed, the tiger not far behind. Before he went down, Rowen looked irritably at the beautiful but strange sight in front of him.

"I'm still blaming this one on you, Ryo," he muttered, shaking his head. "I was perfectly happy letting those two girls do this by themselves." Rowen grunted and began climbing, figuring that while it probably could get much worse than it already had, at least it hadn't gotten there yet.

-

-

-

-

-

-

A/N #2 That feels like a weak ending to me because there's so much stuff left to write in this chapter, but I've gone on pretty long already (over 7000 words). So this is only going to be part one of chapter 13. The next part will come next week because I haven't written it yet. Again hope you liked.


	14. Chapter 13 Part Two

A/N Gee, that took a while, didn't it? I had to do some reconfiguring on how I was presenting this tale, especially since everything was becoming so convoluted. But I think I have a better handle on it now. Yay-ness. Lots of thanks to Ty-Chou for all of her advice and all her help getting me back on track. And for putting up with all the emails saying "Darn this next chapter! Arg!" Also to VC for being my sounding board, despite being attacked with spoilers left and right. And always huggles for TL, cause her enthusiasm keeps me writing when I'm tired and she's just awesome (_get off the stage music starts playing_). Uh...guess that's my cue. Hope you like. The Ronin Warriors do not belong to me, although I'm willing to adopt, and constructive criticism is always welcome.

**Courting the Jester**

Chapter 13: Part Two

_He reached for Mia's hand and drew her in close to him. Her slim shoulders were trembling, prompting him to wrap his arms about her, pulling her to his chest. One small hand reached up and grasped his arm right at the bicep, neatly trimmed fingernails digging into his flesh. _

_He led her backwards towards his bed, trying to hide his own trembling as he sat down, drawing her with him. She seated herself almost primly next to him, clasping her hands between her knees. He smiled embarrassedly and ran a hand through his hair, looking down at the carpet underneath his feet. _

_"Listen," he started uncomfortably, scratching his head out of habit. "I didn't bring you here for anything, you know, I just wanted to make sure that…well that you weren't scared or anything."_

_"I'm always scared these days," she joked in reply, her mouth forming a small smile that he didn't catch. He nodded, eyes still on the floor._

_"Well, I just wanted to say that…well…well I don't want you to be…not tonight I mean…or not ever really, which is why I wanted you here…but not like that, you know, I would never try to…" he stumbled awkwardly through his words. A slim hand touched his jaw, gently turning his head towards hers. Mia smiled again, looking directly into his eyes._

_"Just say what you want to," she told him, taking his hand in hers. He was trembling more visibly now, and emotions raged in his normally gentle eyes._

_"I want to protect you, Mia," he admitted, blushing even as his voice thickened with emotion. He pulled away and stood, walking across the room. He faced the wall, hands clenching and unclenching._

_"I'm not stupid, you know," he said. "I see more and understand more than people give me credit for. Just because you girls aren't telling us what's happening doesn't mean it's not obvious. I didn't need Rowen delving Nikki to figure it out. The others might have been in denial, but I never was." He turned back and looked at her, a hurt expression in his kind face. _

_"I know that thing takes you. I can't even begin to imagine what he does. And I know that you guys let him, despite how messed up it makes you all. But what I can't understand is why, Mia? Why don't you trust us to keep you safe? Why don't you trust us to be able to figure this out? We have never failed before. Why don't you believe in us anymore? Why have you turned to making deals with the enemy instead of trusting in your friends? Because I know a deal's been made. It's all over your face."_

_Mia looked away, hands remaining clasped between her knees. When she didn't speak, he sighed and moved towards his dresser._

_"I didn't want to show you this," he whispered as he pulled open the second drawer and drew out a bunched up piece of cloth. He held it to himself for a moment, as if mentally debating his actions, then walked back to her, laying the piece of fabric in her hands. It was a t-shirt, one of Mia's favorites that she wore all the time. Now it was torn and blood stained, little more a dirty rag._

_"I found this in your room two days ago. I had come by to see if you were okay, despite the fact that Nikki and Cassie kept trying to keep me away from you. When I saw it on your floor I was in a panic. That is until I put two and two together. You were back a couple hours later. It was the longest couple hours of my life. I was ready to bust all three of you out and shake the other two until they told me how to get to you. When you came back you acted like everything was fine."_

_Mia continued to look away, but he could see the glittering of tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She held the bloody shirt tightly to her chest, white-knuckled._

_"What's the deal, Mia? What have you girls gotten yourselves into with him?" His eyes gleamed in the dim light evening light, full of determination. "I swear that no matter what it is, no matter how far it's gotten, that we will get you out of it. _

_If his impassioned words affected her at all, she didn't show it. That didn't deter him in the least. He knelt down in front of her, trying to get her to look at him and acknowledge him. Her refusal made his blood boil. _

_"Do you think for one second that Rowen will let him have Nikki?" He shot out. "That Cassie is up for grabs? That he can have you, Mia? Our right hand girl? He's a monster!" His voice rose suddenly, making her snap her head up. "He terrorizes and he destroys and he kills. Odd numbers, Mia. He's got three of you playing to his tune. Let us help you stop this!"_

_"You don't know what you're talking about," Mia said stiffly, rising to her feet. "And I can't begin to tell you how offended I am that you of all people think that I'm collaborating with the enemy. I thought that you knew me better. I obviously was mistaken." She swept towards the door, only to have him reach out and grab her arm, halting her._

_"Don't go," he said in a low thick voice. "I brought you here to keep you safe. Be mad at me all you want, but be safe while you're doing it." His kind eyes pleaded with her and for a moment he thought he had gotten through to her, but she stiffened and pulled away. The door shut with a click and he let out a snarl of frustration, wheeling around and punching the wall in anger. _

_Two rooms down, Mia closed her own door behind her and burst into tears, leaning back and wrapping her arms around herself. She slowly slid down to the floor, rocking back and forth, head buried in her arms. She was tired and she was lonely and she was frightened out of her mind. Every muscle in her body screamed at her to run back to his room, to the protection of her friends, to tell them everything. To hell with what the ancient had said. She wasn't strong enough to do this alone. She couldn't. She had tried. It was too much._

_Mia pushed back up to her feet and stood unsteadily for a moment. She turned and reached for the doorknob, ready to admit defeat. As her hand touched cold metal, right behind her shoulder, He began to hum. Mia froze. Another sob escaped her lips but with it came a memory. A memory of a blonde man with violet eyes smiling at her over his morning tea. Of a reddish haired man tickling her feet as she tried to read on the couch. Of midnight blue eyes twinkling merrily after the latest prank. Of a dark haired man laughing and hugging her. Of another dark haired man begging her to stay so he could protect her. And then the thought of the world without those men. _

_Her hand fell away from the doorknob. _

_He reached around her and picked up her hand, placing it back on the doorknob. He folded her fingers around the lock and turned it, still humming mockingly in her ear. Mia thought again of a gentle caring face, and she tried to pull strength from it as she was drawn once more across a room, this time by something very different._

_------_

"_You know Sage, as hard as I try, I just don't like that Nikki girl."_

"_I know Rowen, none of us do."_

---

Carved stone loomed on every side, structures that once could have been houses or stores, gilded with swirls and patterns that made the eye confused. To look too long at any one was to let yourself get drawn into an alien design, beautiful yet disturbing. To look too long was to set off little warning bells in the back of your mind that all was not right, that this _place_ was not right. Once entering this place, all seven humans had stared at everything at once, following the main path that led down into the heart of this strange city. It was not long until their eyes began slipping off the buildings and away from the carvings, unconsciously avoiding that which they knew was...off. Every so often they passed by ornate fountains, the pools of water still. Quite possibly they were once busy town meeting places, but now they were a silent decoration, a reminder that this place was forgotten and had been for a long time. The glow from Sage's sword was magnified so that they could see everything around them clearly, but that calming green light wasn't enough to keep these travelers at peace. Only the tiger seemed unconcerned.

Nikki walked between Cye and Rowen, feeling absolutely miserable. Ever since they had descended into the eerily empty city, the hairs on the back of her neck had been on end, and she had constantly fought the urge to look over her shoulder. She felt like they were being watched, but that wasn't anything new. They'd most likely been watched ever since they'd entered the caves. The statue of Kayura outside should have warned them not to set foot inside the place, but Mia had been so insistent. She had thought that just maybe they would be able to find the same sort of thing that they had used to seal away Damian from their world the last time. But the last time had been different. They had had the ancient watching out for them. They'd had the comfort of Kayura's guiding words. But like everything else, the decisions Nikki had made with Mia and Cassie had taken away the ancient. They were alone now, just her and Mia, wandering around in the darkness with five angry and confused men around them.

Nikki risked a glance at Ryo, trying to gauge his attitude. The Ronins' leader was walking beside Mia, his face set in a determined expression. His arms swung loosely at his sides, but Nikki remembered enough about him to catch the slight set of his shoulders, indicating that Ryo was tense. His head was tipped slightly to the right, as if he was listening to the woman at his side. As far as Nikki knew Mia had been quiet, but Ryo's body language was indicating that she was saying something, albeit silently. Every once in a while Mia would drift away slightly, and each time Ryo would reach out and grasp her fingers, drawing her back. Wildfire had kept himself securely between her and the other Ronins, as if to be a physical barrier to the strife that had torn at all of them the past twenty-four hours. Whether Mia appreciated the buffer remained to be seen. Her eyes were unfocused as she walked, lost in her own world of thoughts. Nikki had a few ideas as to what her friend was thinking about, and she didn't envy Mia her reminiscing.

With an uncanny awareness, Ryo turned and looked over his shoulder directly at Nikki, as if he knew she had been watching him. The look he gave her wasn't caring, but it wasn't unkind either. Ryo obviously still didn't know what to make of her. The irony of that amused Nikki, especially since she had spent almost a full year in the man's company. She had seen him happy and relaxed in his friends' presence, had seen him fight more fiercely than one ever could have imagined, and had seen him on his knees weeping in defeat. Nikki knew how long the man spent taking a shower, for goodness sake. But to him she was an untrustable stranger in their midst, someone who arrived right when the shit hit the fan. Nikki didn't blame Ryo for the way he was looking at her, but it didn't make her feel any better about all of this.

The warrior of Strata to her right didn't ease Nikki's nerves either. Rowen seemed to be having a conversation with himself, gesturing and muttering. He was always so logical. He loved to have the facts, to know what he was facing. The ambiguity was killing him, but Nikki didn't have any sympathy for him. She herself would give anything not to remember the events that had unfolded the last time she had been in Japan. The months of terror. The inability to escape or fight their foe. The helplessness. If Rowen knew what he was missing, he'd never wish for enlightenment. If Rowen had any clue how much Mia and Nikki were protecting him and the others…There are some things that someone should never see or hear or experience. The nightmares had taken Nikki these several years to get rid of, along with the help of some very strong sleeping medications. She still jumped in the middle of the busy school campus any time she heard someone humming below their breath. Rowen wouldn't ever have to hide in the bathroom stalls between classes fighting terror induced panic attacks. No, Nikki had no sympathy for Rowen at all.

Cye on the other hand made Nikki sad. His handsome face was twisted in an expression of confusion and helplessness. Cye's shoulders were hunched and his head bowed as they walked. He seemed almost as disinterested in their surroundings as Mia was. Nikki knew that Cye felt overwhelmed. It hadn't gotten past her that Cye had known instantly that she had known Damian was present earlier. He had picked up instantly on her feelings and fears and had acted on them. The Cye she had known before had only barely come to realize and begun utilizing his abilities of empathy, and he had been less than comfortable with them. That process had been slow and progressive. It had never occurred to Nikki that when Cye had been forced to forget Damian, he would be forced to forget the abilities he had developed during the time he'd fought that devil as well. It must all be rushing in on him all at once. Nikki had learned enough about it from Sage to know that being empathically sensitive and untrained could be a painful and confusing experience. Nikki felt an overwhelming urge to reach over and hug the Ronin of Torrent. Cye's head came up and he gave her a tiny appreciative smile before turning away again. It only made Nikki want to hug him more.

They passed by a large fountain, the bottom pool of water smoothly reflecting the dim green light. Nikki suppressed the urge to dip her fingers into the liquid. It might look refreshing, but when dealing with situations like this Nikki had learned to not trust her first impressions. The line between reality and illusion could be paper thin. Mia however must have had different ideas because she paused at the fountain, sitting down on the carved stone ledge encircling the pool. She put her cupped hand down into the water, letting the clear water drip between her fingertips as she raised it. Her face was expressionless, but a flicker in her eyes told Nikki that Mia was as miserable as she was. The red head had always known how to hide her emotions better.

"Can we stop for a moment?" Mia asked wearily, not looking directly at the Ronins.

"Why?" Sage grunted. Ryo shot him a look but echoed the question.

"Because I need to explain a few things before we go any farther, and I'd like to rest a moment. My evil chasing stamina isn't what it used to be." Mia smiled slightly at her own joke even though no on else laughed. Nikki went and sat beside Mia, thankful to get off her feet. She slung her pack off her shoulder and went through the motions of checking her equipment. She was there for moral support of her friend, but that didn't mean that Nikki wanted the focus of this conversation on her. Ryo shrugged agreement to the rest, so the others formed a loose semicircle around the girls. Kento knelt down on one knee, but looked ready to spring up at any moment. He kept one eye glued to Mia as she spoke and one eye on the buildings and structures around them.

"The reason why we are in here is that I think I might be able to find something in this cave that can get rid of…of him. The last time we fought him over and over again, but it wasn't until we found a certain artifact that we were able to seal him away. That artifact was destroyed when we used it, which could account for your guys' memory loss. It took all of us to activate it, and the backlash was pretty bad…" Mia drifted off for a moment before speaking again.

"You have to have some sort of idea as to what this thing is that we're trying to defeat. It isn't so much of a demon as it is a truly evil entity from another realm."

"Like the Nether realm?" Cye asked curiously. Mia shook her head once.

"No, not exactly. Where this thing comes from is a much darker place than the Nether Realm was, even during the height of Talpa's reign. While the warlords were able to flip back and forth between realms with Talpa's help, and us with the ancient's staff, where _he_ comes from is much harder to get to, and get out of. What we see and are attacked by is its…" Mia hesitated, searching for the right wording. "…is its _essence_ for lack of a better term. If I said its spirit, that would be wrong, because this thing is more than a spiritual entity. It is flesh and bone and can attack us and hurt us. But what we see isn't all that it really is. The actual thing is far away in its own realm."

"So this thing's trying to escape and come through to attack the mortal realm and we have to stop him again," Rowen stated knowingly, crossing his arms. Mia smiled and let out a small laugh, but there was no humor in it.

"Wouldn't it make so much sense if that was the case?" Mia asked Rowen lightly. Strata tilted his head in confusion so Mia continued.

"That's what we first thought, that this thing was trying to get its entire physical self through into the mortal realm to take over. But the funny thing is…this thing couldn't care less about the mortal realm. Or anything we have here. All it cares about is having…having its own personal sick version of fun. It wants to play with us. Any time it wanted to it could just tear a hole right through from its home to ours, but there's no need. It has as much fun as it wants just by doing what it's doing. This time it's barely come around, has only hurt us a little. Last time it went on a terror spree. It had everyone so twisted in circles that we couldn't see straight. Maybe the seal that we put on it is still holding some. I don't know."

"Mia, if that seal didn't work, what makes you think that another one will?" Kento asked concernedly from his crouched position. "My memory's just as fuzzy as everyone else's, but every time you bring up that seal, I get a bad feeling about it. Like it didn't just not work, it really not worked."

"It worked, Kento," Mia replied, her voice getting softer. "It just hurt everyone in the process."

"No, Mia," Sage corrected. "You hurt everyone in the process of using the seal. The seal that didn't work," Sage added bitterly. Mia looked at him harshly, but Nikki jumped in.

"Yes, Sage," Nikki bit back protectively. "Everyone _she_ hurt. Just her. Because she's vengeful like that. She loves watching the people she cares about hurting. Makes her feel all warm and fuzzy inside."

"Again, enter the alibi," Rowen muttered, backing up Sage. Ryo started to intervene but Mia spoke softly, cutting the argument off before it went any further.

"I know you miss her, Sage. But that's only been for one day of the past two years. I've lived with my decisions every moment since then. You can hate me all you want, but you couldn't begin to make me feel remorse I haven't already felt. You barely remember her. I remember everything about her, and always will. Your anger can't touch that."

Everyone fell silent, tense and frustrated. Kento grunted and rose up from his position on the floor, dusting off his hands and placing them in his hips. He gave Sage and Rowen a tight look, lips pursed.

"I really don't know why you insist on bringing all that stuff up, Sage," Kento said. "Maybe you remember more of what happened then the rest of us from that thing you did to Mia, but that doesn't mean the rest of us don't have bits and pieces here and there too. I can remember a lot of stuff that has me pretty angry, and guess what? It isn't all directed at Mia and Nikki. There's anger at you too, and at Rowen. And from the little clippets that keep popping up in my head every time you mention that girl's name, I don't have the impression she was quite the angel you've been mourning. If you're going to be angry Sage, wait until you remember more about why you're angry instead of immediately taking it out on everyone. I'm tired of Mia getting treated like the bad guy just because we all don't understand everything."

It was a huge speech for Kento, and even Sage managed to look surprised by his comrade.

"What did I do?" murmured Rowen, tipping his head to the side.

This elicited a tiny laugh from Nikki despite herself. Rowen managed to look confused and slightly offended at the same time.

"Umm, can I suggest something?" Cye spoke up in his gentle voice. All eyes turned to him. "It's not that I don't like all this mish-mash ambiguous drama stuff, but why don't we all sit down and try to piece together what everyone knows so far, so at least we're all on the same page for once. Then we can continue on this merry little jaunt not wanting to strangle each other?" A chorus of grunts was his answer, but the general tone was of agreement.

"I'll start. The first thing that made me start feeling different was a couple weeks ago when we followed Sage into that clearing near his house. Everyone knows that since Suzunagi gave us these new armors that I've been struggling with them. Hell, I struggled with the old ones. I'd always felt as if we were pawns to the armor, and even though the new armors were so much different than the old ones, I'd always felt as if the armor was trying to get to me, to unleash something inside of me that I didn't want to have out. It made me angry and irritable, which I know you guys were all aware of, even though I didn't ever explain why I was that way. We were all on edge, waiting for some big battle that never came. Rowen had said that he thought that we were missing something. I think maybe what we were missing was a part of ourselves."

"Ever since Sage had that attack in the clearing I've felt different, as if going there opened a door that had been previously shut. I started feeling things that you guy around me felt. Right now I can tell that out of all of us, even though Sage and Rowen have been the most vocal about their frustrations, they really aren't as angry as they appear to be. In fact, out of everyone, the person the most upset right now is Kento." At that comment the Ronin of Hardrock looked up at Cye, then looked away. "It goes beyond what I can normally tell with the link between our armors. I just know. And I can tell you another thing. Nikki's so afraid right now, I'm amazed she isn't curled up in a ball on the floor."

Nikki gave Cye a startled look, then stuck her tongue out at him. Cye gave her a gentle smile before continuing.

"I remember bits and pieces like the rest of you. When I close my eyes, the first thing that pops up is a pair of really pretty blue eyes. I had a dream after the thing attacked Mia that I was walking with a girl around the lake behind Mia's home. I remember being really happy and content. It was something I hadn't felt in a very long time. I remember…" Cye trailed off and looked away. "I remember thinking that we needed to make sure that we all stayed close and together, that it was a dangerous time. I don't remember much more than that. If Damian had attacked us before, I can't recall."

Cye ended and looked around at his comrades. Ryo took the point and stepped forward, resting one of his fists on his hip.

"I don't know much more than Cye already said. For whatever reason I don't think this thing is interested in me. It has left me alone. I didn't see the blood in Mia's study. I haven't been getting flashbacks, they've been more like feelings." Ryo had the grace to look embarrassed as he said, "I'm angry though. I keep getting these surges of rage, and overwhelming feelings of betrayal."

Ryo's eyes were sad as he added, "And most of them happen when I talk to you, Mia. I don't want to feel that way, but I do." Mia's mouth tightened at his words but she said nothing in response. Ryo stepped back and waited. Kento ambled forward, scratching his head.

"It messed with me back at the house, after Ro and Sage left," Kento muttered, seemingly unhappy that he was speaking about it. "It made me see Ryo do some weird stuff, then I became convinced Ryo was actually the bad guy. I attacked him, even though Ryo wasn't wearing armor, and…" Kento cleared his throat. "And I killed him. It had me completely convinced I'd murdered my friend. Then it left something for me. Something personal from before. I don't really want to talk about that, though." The tone in his voice warranted no objections.

_Bloody clothes. They were everywhere…_

"I remember the Cassie girl Sage is so upset about, but from what I remember Cye is the one who should be more upset. I had thought he was closer to her than anyone. And as much as Rowen seems to love yelling at Nikki, I remember he used to jump to her defense just as fast. I remember talking with Ryo, that Ryo used to be worried that he wasn't being targeted by this thing, just like he's worrying now. And I don't have to be Cye or Sage to pick up on that, Ryo," Kento added. His face became stony and it looked like he wasn't going to speak anything more, but Kento shook his head and continued.

"As for everyone feeling betrayed, I don't. Well, not as much as everyone else does. I keep getting this overwhelming feeling of failure, like whatever happened before was a result of us not being good enough. That we weren't able to defeat it. Which is obviously correct, since this thing is back again. Mia mentioned that we used a seal to lock Damian out of our world, but I don't remember that. I remember not knowing about the seal until _after_ it was used. That might be one thing that would be nice to have explained." Kento turned to Mia, one hand clenched into a fist.

"Cye said I'm angry, and I guess I am. Unlike everyone else, I couldn't give a shit that those two have been lying to us from the start, because I actually believe they feel like they have a reason for it. We've been so busy pointing fingers and demanding reasons for their silence and lies, we've been ignoring the facts right in front of us. I think they're trying to protect us from something, but I don't know what. But I do know that whatever they're hiding is worth dying for. Was worth dying for. I think that they kept us all in the dark back then too."

"Kento…" Mia started, but he cut her off.

"No, Mia. I've kept my mouth shut since the start, but I'm not going to anymore. I'll tell you what I do remember. I remember sitting by and trusting in you girls to come out and let us know what we needed to do. Now I don't think it was such a good idea. I underestimated your judgment as much as you overestimated it."

Mia had gone slightly pale and her hands were clenched together tightly as she sat there, refusing to meet Kento's eyes.

"You're grasping at straws Kento," Nikki said softly. Dark brown eyes landed on her, along with that unsettling gaze.

"And you're running out of excuses Nikki. Mia has too, which is why she's just not talking anymore. What did you think was going to happen? That you would be able to hide everything under a blanket, hoping that none of it would ever come out again? Did you actually think that our armors would allow such an important part of our past remain hidden from us? It goes against the very nature of our armors to allow us to be kept in the dark. Rowen's especially, which is why he's been going nuts for so long. We were going to find out sometime. Our armors were going to make sure of it."

Suddenly Mia was on her feet, eyes flashing, fists clenched.

"Your _armors_," she spat angrily, "did absolutely nothing to help protect us! Didn't you wonder why when Damian first attacked you four at the house that you couldn't even armor up? That he just swept you all aside like ants? Even if Rowen had been there, even if the combined power of your armors had allowed you to armor up, do you actually think it would have made a difference? What do you want me to say Kento? That I don't think you guys can beat this thing?"

"Mia, quit it!" Nikki suddenly snapped, but her friend seemed to not even have heard her, and Mia plunged on heedlessly.

"Well guess what Kento? No! I don't think you can beat it! I don't think that you can win. Why? Because you _never_ could! Each time you tried---"

"Mia!" Nikki yelled, grabbing her arm and shaking her.

"Every single pointless battle! Every time we gathered the strength and the resources, it never mattered! Because each time you all let it beat you! You let yourselves fall prey to its ability to manipulate you! Why did we go around you, Kento! Because there was nothing else we could do---"

"MIA! Shut the fuck UP!"

Nikki had screamed at the top of her lungs, making Mia's head snapped back as if Nikki had hit her. Mia went even paler. She clamped one slim hand over her mouth and twisted away, walking behind the fountain, her back to everyone. They stood in shock. Nikki eyes went wildly from one Ronin to the next and she began attempting to backtrack.

"She's just upset, ignore what she said, she's just upset…" Nikki stuttered. Rowen marched across the circle and reached for the dark haired girl's shoulder. He gave her a little shake, forcing her attention up to his face.

"What did she mean, we never were able to beat it, Nikki?" Rowen asked her intently. Nikki cast around for somewhere to escape his piercing look, but only got another shake for her effort.

"Nik, what did she mean?" Rowen repeated. "Did we ever manage to defeat Damian in a battle? Were we stronger than him when we combined forces?"

"Rowen, please don't make me answer this," Nikki whispered, tears coming unbidden to her eyes. "Please, you don't want to know…"

"Whether I want to know doesn't matter sweetheart," Rowen said roughly. "I need to know. Could be ever defeat him in battle?"

Trembling, Nikki shook her head no. A collective stillness went through the gathered Ronins.

"Why?" Rowen pressed, hand squeezing down on Nikki's shoulder. "Why, Nikki?"

"Because he was immune to most attacks by your weapons. He wasn't in true corporeal form, so your attacks would go right through him when he was expecting them. You guys weren't able to get close enough to him to get past his guard. When White Blaze bit him, it was one of the few times I think you've ever been able to touch him."

"Kento said that he didn't know about the seal until after it had been used…" Rowen murmured. Nikki tried to pull away, but he kept her firmly in his grasp. "You said _we_ were never able to get close enough to hurt him, Nik. You said nothing about _you_."

Nikki tried once more to pull out of Rowen's grasp, tears welling in her eyes, but staying unshed. Rowen grabbed her other shoulder and pulled her back. He leaned down so that his face was right in front of hers. He spoke softly, but each word cut through her.

"Nikki. _What did you do_?"

From behind the fountain Mia's voice rose, once again that icy calm she'd adopted lately.

"Does it really matter what we did, Rowen?" Mia asked flatly. "It obviously didn't work. Which is why we are here in this cave, once more trying to find an alternative way of getting rid of that thing. Forgive us if we didn't want to drag you guys through the failures of the past, but there was no point to it. There are so many things that no one should ever have to go through, and Dam---_He_ managed to put all of you through just about every one. You couldn't fight then. You have a chance now, just as long as we're fast and don't drag this thing out. I'm not spending a year trying to fight this thing like we did last time. I refuse. And I refuse to tell you what it did to all of us, so thank your lucky stars that you have that peace of mind."

"Mia, it's not right that we don't know---" Rowen started only to be cut off.

"Sometimes curiosity does more than kill the cat, blueberry," Nikki whispered. "Sometimes it skins and eats it alive first." Rowen stared at her, her morbid comment falling heavily between them. Rowen released her arm and moved back, his face dark.

"Why are we here, Mia?" Ryo asked quietly. They could only see her back, upright and motionless as she stood.

"To find the second seal. Kayura said there were two. She helped us get the first, and we prayed we wouldn't ever have to search for this second one. But we do. I've spent the better part of the last two years preparing for this and trying to find different sites that had relevance to the legends surrounding _him_. It seems that we weren't the first people that caught his attention, but he never stayed around for long. Any documentation correlating to his presence only tells about times of great conflict and despair before quickly quieting down. I think that things weren't _fun_ enough back then. Wasn't worth his time. For some reason he found us more interesting. More of a challenge."

"Kayura's been gone since after we lost the Armor of Inferno, Mia," Cye spoke up. "We never knew why she stopped coming around."

"We all had our parts to play, Cye. I don't know what happened to Kayura. I'm not sure I want to." Mia could have been talking about the weather for all the intonation she put in her words.

"Does it have anything to do with that statue outside the cave?" Ryo asked her. Mia merely shrugged her shoulders, her body remaining turned from them.

"Why is there an abandoned city here?" Sage suddenly asked, sounding much more subdued then he had before. "Why is the cave so disproportionate? I know we haven't traveled far enough down to allow there to be a ceiling that high above our heads."

This time Nikki was the one answering his questions, but her voice betrayed her emotions much more than Mia's had.

"Damian isn't an actual entity in the mortal realm, but he is in his own realm. We think he's some kind of ruler or leader. When Kayura told us about the possibility of this place, she described it as an echo of his own world, a place of darkness and illusions, but also of beauty. The second seal was supposedly hidden within the core of darkness itself. There would be no better place in the Mortal Realm than here." Nikki shivered after the words had left her mouth.

"Well, we're all here together," Cye spoke up again. "And we all have our armor on. So at least if Damian comes back he won't be able to keep us from armoring up. We just have to find a way to catch him off his guard so we can actually attack him. Until then, we keep looking for the second seal. That's not too hard, right?" he added optimistically.

"Do you have any idea exactly where in all this it would be, Mia?" Ryo asked. Mia stood up and turned around, walking back around the fountain. White Blaze had started to growl from his place beside Ryo.

"Maybe we should ask him," she suggested, eyes moving past Sage and Cye. They turned instantly

"Well thank goodness all that's over, little children," Damian said from his perch on top of a nearby rooftop, a smile cutting his pale face. "Everyone's all caught up to speed, plot has been developed, character interaction has been encouraged, and questions have been answered. Now is anyone ready to play yet?"

Ryo stepped forward, armor clinking loudly as he stood front and center between his comrades. The sound of steel shrieked as he slowly drew both of his swords, raising his right arm and pointing the tip of the blade towards Damian's throat.

"You may not be a tin can," Ryo said clear and confident, "but I bet you can be recycled just as easily!"

From behind Ryo came a simultaneous groan from Sage and Cye, while Rowen tipped his head to think about it. Damian however grinned even bigger, his teeth gleaming in the greenish light.

"I got this one, guys" Kento proclaimed, stepping forward. They could feel the earth start shaking as Kento raised his hand slowly.

"Iron…Rock...

"Kento, NO!" Mia screamed from behind him, her voice almost drowned out by White Blaze's roar, but it was too late.

"CRUSHER!"

The sure kill aimed at the figure on the rooftop ripped right through stone house, through the one behind it, and the one behind that. The guys staggered as the earth seemed to jump and tilt under them. Nikki fell into the fountain, her arm scraping painfully on the carved edge of the stonework. Mia was knocked backwards, and she grasped as best she could to the rolling ground underneath her. A deafening crack sounded above them, followed by a hail storm of chunks of earth falling from the ceiling above. Nikki screamed as one slammed into the ground right in front of her. Cye staggered back and threw himself over her, blocking her from the onslaught. Mia yelped in pain as a rock the size of Kento's fist struck her in the hip.

"Kento!" Sage yelled. "Make it stop!"

"I can't!" he shouted back. "This isn't me!"

"This whole place is coming down around us!" Ryo roared, casting around to try to find some sign of the enemy.

"What do you mean it isn't you!" Rowen shouted at Kento. The dark haired man just shrugged wildly his confusion at Rowen. Suddenly Strata's eyes widened in understanding.

"This isn't real! It's an illusion! Everyone, stop thinking it's real!" Rowen roared at the group. Rowen stood up, despite the rocking of the earth, and closed his eyes. Cye stared at him in disbelief, then shrugged and attempted to do the same. Slowly the others followed, Mia and Nikki still crouched on the ground. Finally the rolling of the earth lessened, then stopped. They opened their eyes and looked around. Kento's surekill had definitely taken out a few houses, but other than that everything else was fine.

Mia yelped again, causing them to spin around. Another rock had hit her in the shoulder and she was rubbing it painfully. Above her on the tall center pedestal of the fountain sat Damian, a handful of rocks on his lap, happily lobbing missiles at the redhead. He looked down, noticing that the Ronins had made it through his illusion. He tossed the rock in his hand and began clapping, a huge grin splitting his face. Beneath him Mia yelped once more before Kento managed to position himself in front of her.

"Bravo!" Damian exclaimed happily. "Bravo! Now that we've got the action packed sequence out of the way…" His eyes narrowed and he licked his lips. "Who's ready to have some fun?"

Five armored Ronins stepped forward, weapons drawn. Blue eyes narrowed in fury, Ryo raised his swords and faced his enemy, growling.

"Bring it."

**It seems that the Ronins face their most dangerous adversary yet. Can they find a way to see through Damian's illusions as they fight their way into the heart of this city of darkness, or are our warriors overmatched? Well see next time, on Ronin Warriors!** _(...Ronin Warriors…do do do do...Ronin Warriors!…do do do…the power's in the armor!...do do do…_)

A/N #2: Lol! Oh my goodness, I actually explained things for once, didn't I? And in chronological order as well. Please everyone, don't keel over from the shock. True to style, I had to at least leave it on a cliffy.


	15. Chapter 13 Part Three

A/N…..Warning. This one scared even me, and I wrote it mostly in the middle of the day. So yeah…shudders. The Ronin Warriors are not mine. I don't want Damian. Please take him. But constructive criticism is always welcome. (This has ended up being a horror fic. I wasn't planning on it, but that's what happened. Shrugs)

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter Thirteen: Part Three (Final Part of 13)

"Bring it!" Ryo snarled, leaping up in the air. His hands swept together, bringing his katanas end to end. They came together with a click, bursting into flame in Ryo's hands. He spun the weapon above his head as he came down, aiming for the fountain Damian was perched on. Ryo's adversary rose, balancing on the balls of his feet and leaning slightly forward towards the descending Wildfire. An eager expression filled his face only to be replaced by surprise when Kento jumped up behind him, grabbing him around the shoulders

"MOVE!" Rowen roared, almost at the same instant that Cye grabbed Nikki about the waist, yanking her up and out of the way. Mia scrambled to her feet and lunged sideways, away from the devastation of Ryo's attack

"Flare up, NOW!" Ryo cried as he brought his swords down on the figure trapped in front of Kento. For a split second Ryo almost stopped the attack, but the furious expression on Kento's face drove him down into their enemy. There was a blinding white flash, then everything exploded around them. Flame engulfed the fountain and the three figures on it, blinding them from view. Steam hissed up, replacing the clearing smoke. A panting Wildfire could be seen standing among the rubble, small puddles of evaporating water at his feet. A slightly charred Hardrock was on his back not too far away, struggling to rise.

"He slipped away at the last second---" Kento started, only to be slammed face down by an invisible attacker.

"Kento!" Sage shouted, jumping forward and brandishing his nodachi. A startled Kento was instantly jerked upright and this time thrown headfirst into Halo. Both armored men went flying, crashing to the ground in a heap.

"Sage! Kento! You guys alright?" Rowen yelled, jumping in front of them and spinning around, trying to see their enemy through the remaining steam.

"Uggg," groaned Kento.

"Yeah, try it some time with Talpa," Rowen quipped, notching an arrow into his bow. "Cye, you see this piece of shit?" he called over.

"All I see is steam and you guys," Cye replied, brandishing his yari from his place by Nikki.

"Don't look for him," Nikki snapped, "you won't find him! He'll go for our weak spots!"

"You mean _you_, little one?" Damian asked behind her, his hand wrapping around to grab her by the throat. He yanked her backwards into his body and lowered his mouth to her ear, purring almost seductively. Cye swung around instantly but was stopped by the warning expression on Damian's face, aware their enemy could break her neck with one quick snap of his hands.

"I can taste you, sweeting," he whispered, tongue flicking out to her neck. Nikki flinched away but was held frozen in his grasp. "Your fear oozes from you, drenching you deliciously." Her eyes went wide as his fingernails cut into her skin, a thin line of red dripping down her throat.

"I remember you…you always did taste the best-" His words were cut off by an arrow punching deep into his chest, followed by an armored fist slamming into his face. Damian staggered back, releasing Nikki. Strata landed between her and Damian, dark blue eyes furious as he notched another arrow.

"Die, you son of a bitch!" Rowen snarled as he drew his bow back. The figure in front of him regained its balance, smiling as it jumping forward, placing the center of its chest right in front of Rowen as he loosened his arrow. Gold ripped right through Damian and buried itself ten feet behind him. Damian smiled evilly at Rowen as he rubbed his cheek against the bow of Strata. Rowen stared at him in disbelief, even as Damian reached out and punched his hand through Rowen's armor, his arm sliding sickeningly up to his elbow in Strata's chest.

"Death is only for mortals, little one," Damian purred, twisting his arm. Rowen went pure white, his knees buckling.

"NO!" Nikki screamed, throwing herself at Damian, clawing at his face. He snatched her hand up and thrust it forward, deep inside Rowen, withdrawing his own hand as he did. Nikki went deadly still, staring in horror at the man in front of her. That's when she felt it.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

There was the roar of a tiger and the sound of steel striking down on rock. There was shouting and a taunting echo of laughter. Then everything went silent.

Something snapped inside Nikki and she fell back, staring at her blood covered hand in horror. She didn't realize she was screaming until a hand clamped over her mouth, and arms wrapped around her, lifting up. She was finally slipping, losing it, she thought with calm detachment. Congratulations. The bastard had finally figured out what would send her over the edge. _Rowen_…

Waves of reassurance and protectiveness started flowing over her, but Nikki refused to acknowledge them, lost in her own mind. Someone was screaming, an irritating buzzing in her ears, but it was far away from where she was now. Far away…

_You're not going anywhere,_ a voice drifted through her thoughts._ You're staying right here with me, even if I have to tie you up and sit on you._

_Leave me alone Cye,_ Nikki thought.

_Not bloody likely. Definitely not until you stop all this racket_, he chastised, even as he surrounded her with comfort. _He's not here anymore. He's gone. You're alright now, Nik, so come back to us. We need you. No one else can keep Rowen in check._

_Rowen's dead…Damian killed him. Then he made me feel it._

_No, Nikki. Rowen's alive. It was another one of those illusions. Strong enough to scare the hell out of all of us, but not real. Come back to us now._

She tried to fight it a little more, but he was too comforting, too stable. Finally she gave in.

_Fine_, she grumbled, _but you're paying for my therapy, buddy_.

_Yours and mine both,_ he chuckled, even as she felt herself being swept back towards reality. Someone was still crying but it had quieted to ragged sobs. Strong arms continued to hold her, and she decided it was okay to hide there for awhile longer. Maybe if she hid long enough this could all disappear and she would be in non-Ronin-normal-land again.

"She's coming back," Nikki heard a smooth voice say, "but she put up a fight about it. How's Rowen?"

"In shock. Sage said that he's physically alright, it wasn't actually real. He suspects that Rowen might be bruised pretty badly under his armor, but that's all. "

"It's real enough," Cye muttered under his breath.

"Well, it wasn't real enough to kill him, which it otherwise would have done. But I was right there, Cye. I thought for sure that bastard had killed Ro. I've never seen something that horrific in my entire life." There was a pause then Cye whispered almost inaudibly.

"The battles are so fast, and we never can get a hold of him…How the hell are we supposed to fight this thing, Ryo?"

It was the twinge of despair in Cye's voice that cut through to Nikki, getting past the horror she'd just seen and felt. The despair that was so horribly familiar coming from that optimistic mouth. Nikki forced herself to uncurl and sit up. Two heads hovered over her, both looking grim despite the encouraging smile Cye gave her. Torrent was covering his fears quickly in an attempt to protect her, and this time, Nikki leaned forward and gave him that hug she'd wanted to give him for the last two hours. Cye looked surprised then squeezed her back.

"You're okay now," Cye said reassuringly as Ryo stood up. Nikki just smiled at him weakly. She pulled her knees to her chest and looked around. The center that they had stopped in looked like a hurricane had blown through it. The nearest building had been reduced to rubble, as had the fountain. The air still smelled of sulfur and blood, wrenching at Nikki's stomach. _Rowen_.

Just another image she'd spend years trying to forget.

Ryo had moved away from her and Cye and was now kneeling next to Sage, the still form of Strata hidden behind their armors. Mia was searching through the rubble, trying to piece together what was left of their equipment. Her pretty face was drawn tight, and she avidly avoided looking in Rowen's direction. She did however glance over at Nikki, and for an instant she looked just as scared and horrified as Nikki felt, but then her face smoothed away into that bland callousness.

"And the award goes to…" Nikki muttered under her breath as she slowly stood up, confusing the warrior at her side. An orange body stepped between her and Mia, cutting off Nikki's train of thought. Kento was gripping his staff tightly, dark eyes constantly glancing between the others and the surrounding area. He looked worried. He looked _pissed_.

"We need to leave here," Kento told Cye shortly, eyes giving Nikki a once over before moving on. Nikki watched him warily, not used to this kind of decisive behavior from Kento. He had always been the most easygoing of all of them. Now he was the most direct, and those kind brown eyes looked through her a little too thoroughly. Nikki realized then that she had underestimated him. They all had, Mia especially. He wasn't going to make any of this easier for them like before.

As Kento spoke, Sage and Ryo both leaned over and each took one of Rowen's arms, pulling the warrior to his feet. Rowen swayed dangerously between them before righting himself. He skin was drained of color, but his eyes seemed sharp as they swung around until they landed on Nikki. She blanched, eyes dropping to his chest and the armor that looked battered but not broken through. There was no hole in him. Still, Nikki's stomach lurched and she turned away. Rowen shrugged off the help of Sage and Ryo and moved purposefully towards Nikki, if not with excessive stability.

"Are you okay?" It was not the smart-ass comment she had expected from him, which threw her off, as did the hand that grabbed hers. Rowen laid her palm against his chest plate deliberately.

"Look at me, Nikki." His voice was commanding and she reluctantly obeyed. Dark blue eyes looked seriously into hers. He rapped her fingers against the metal.

"No hole. Nothing. Not real. _Are you okay_?" His words drove into her, and she nodded agreement at him.

"Say it."

"I'm alright, Rowen," Nikki replied weakly. Rowen nodded, satisfied.

"Good, because we need to keep going. Now." There was a strength in his voice that calmed Nikki despite herself. She took a deep breath, collecting herself as best she could. Cye looked at Rowen and an understanding passed between them that Nikki didn't get. Cye fell in behind Rowen, Nikki finding herself following suit.

Rowen went back to Sage and Ryo and muttered under his breath, "Just don't say anything." Ryo just nodded but Sage rolled his eyes.

"If you pass out in front of her, it ruins the whole effect," Sage murmured placidly. Rowen gave him a dirty look but Sage merely raised an eyebrow. Kento joined them, White Blaze at his side. Mia stood slightly behind, outside the group, a torn and blackened bag swung over her shoulder.

"You good, Ro?" Kento asked. Rowen gave him a cocky grin that was only slightly spoiled by the flicker of pain in his face.

"Dandy," Rowen said. "Now where the hell is that second seal? Cause I already don't want to play this game anymore."

Eyes went to Nikki first then to Mia. The red head stepped forward, limping and dirty. She brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face as her eyes narrowed.

"All I know is that it is supposed to be in the core of darkness. I assume that means the center of this place." She pointed behind her towards the descending path. "Somewhere down there."

It wasn't a comforting suggestion. The deeper they went into this place, the more unsettling it became. The pale green light still brightened the abandoned city, but the shadows between the buildings were dark and becoming darker with every footstep they took. What lay the heart of this place was merely speculation. Yet to Nikki, along with the darkness that came with each step, a sense of recognition and déjà vu came as well. Deep down in her soul she knew where they were going. Just because she hadn't traveled there on foot meant nothing.

"Echo my ass," Nikki muttered under her breath, "This place is the real fucking deal." Mia's head snapped up and she leveled a hard glare at Nikki. Nikki didn't care enough anymore to look away. Sage raised an eyebrow and Kento grunted sourly.

"Do you have anything more to go on than that?" Sage asked Mia. "Like what form this new seal will be in?" His voice was neutral. There was no hint of the anger that had gripped him so fully earlier, but there was no warmth either. Ryo had said to let their issues lie for now, and Sage had always followed Ryo, in body and in behavior.

"I don't know Sage," Mia said. "The last seal came in the form of an amulet. It was beautiful, a complicated piece made of interlocking crystals. That one was found by Kayura, in a place of light and peace. The one we're searching for is in a place of darkness. My best guess is that it is the same, only of different colors. Black crystals maybe. I'm not sure."

Nikki's jaw dropped, but she quickly clamped it shut. No one seemed to notice.

Sage nodded, although he seemed less than satisfied with Mia's answer. Ryo shifted his weight and looked at the city stretching down away from them.

"Alright," Ryo declared strongly. "Wherever the heck this seal is, we need to find it as soon as possible. I don't want to risk another encounter with that Damian creep if I don't have to. Our weapons don't seem to be much of a help. Keep an eye on Blaze, because he seems to be the only one who can get an idea of where that guy is."

Ryo paused, then added, "And just because he keeps playing these tricks on our heads doesn't mean he's not powerful enough to really pull them off. I'm not burying any friends because of this asshole."

Ryo glanced at Rowen and then turned, marching purposefully into the city. The others followed him resolutely, weapons drawn and ready. Nikki fell into place beside Mia, eyes straightforward and murmuring under her breath.

"So…" Nikki said conversationally.

"What?" Mia asked.

"So you just described to them the amulet that took away their memories. Nice touch, the part about the original one being light colored and this one dark. Now why exactly are we telling them to find that? Especially since Kayura had it last time I saw?"

Mia's eyes never strayed from the backs of the warriors they were following. Kento had ranged to the right and back slightly so that the girls weren't bringing up the rear. Mia lowered her voice even more to compensate for his proximity.

"I don't think Kayura has it any more. No, don't look at me! Look straight ahead. I don't think Kayura has it. I'm willing to bet money that where ever that amulet is, the second seal is there as well."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because I think that Kayura tried to get the second seal already. And that she lost the amulet in the process. I think she knew that the first seal wasn't working. Maybe we needed both of them activated for it to be strong enough to keep him away. I don't know."

"She's the fucking _ancient_, Mia! The most powerful of them all now that the Inferno armor is gone! Are you serious? What happened to her then!"

"Shush! Keep your voice down. Kento is looking at us," Mia snapped with a completely smooth face. "I don't know exactly what happened to her. I only have my theories." Mia reached up to touch the necklace at her throat before continuing.

"We thought that using just one of the seals would be strong enough to keep him away, but he must have found his way through. It's almost more important that we find that amulet than we find the second seal. I want that second seal, but if we have to we can just take everything back to the beginning again, and deal with those consequences then. We need that amulet."

Nikki raised an eyebrow and asked acidly, "We need it for them or to cover our own butts? It obviously didn't work out too well last time." At Mia's stony silence, Nikki sighed, then changed subject.

"What does the second seal actually look like? The first was so small..."

"I think it's a book," Mia answered.

"The same book that we saw outside?" she asked on a hunch. Mia nodded. Nikki's lip twitched in satisfaction.

"I knew that I'd seen the 'triumphant Mia' expression before you covered it. How are we supposed to find it though? And how exactly are we supposed to use it? Do we read it? Do we toss it at his head, spine first? What?"

Mia pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"I don't know how to use it. I'm not one-hundred percent sure how Cassie used the last one. But I think that they will lead us right to it, Nik. Somehow the Ronin armors must have known that Dam.._he_ was breaking down the seal. I think that's why they started combating the memory suppression lately. Their armors have been fighting the effects of the amulet even harder since we came down here. The armors want to find the amulet to destroy it. The armors _want_ them to have their memories back. But if they think it's the seal…"

"Then they won't destroy it, despite what their gut feelings tell them. Mia, this is cruel. We're playing them against their own armors. It's wrong."

Mia's eyes flashed as she snapped, "What's the better option, Nikki? That they destroy that amulet and everything comes back? Do you remember how they were at the end? At least weakened, Damian gives us a reprieve between attacks. Do you remember the constant onslaught back then? Do you really want to repeat that? Damian would just love it if they retained their memories."

"No, he wouldn't," Nikki said back morosely. "He'd already won that game. Now he gets to play a new one. But the first seal must be holding a little. I saw his face right before he hit Rowen. I think he really did intend to kill him, that's why I tried to stop him. He wasn't strong enough to punch through Strata's armor. Then he covered with the illusion." Nikki shuddered at the memory, despite her analytical tone.

"He definitely isn't sticking around very long for the fights," Mia acknowledged.

"Why do you think that Kayura already tried to get the second seal?" Nikki asked curiously.

"Because she told me." Nikki raised an eyebrow, and Mia clarified. "She left me a warning message."

Nikki was silent a moment, then her eyes widened.

"The statue. The writings on the book. You could read them," Nikki added accusingly. Mia shook her head.

"No. It was in a different language, the same language that covers these buildings. All except a part at the bottom." Mia drifted off, and when she spoke again her voice betrayed her distress.

"The last part was in a language I knew, but no one else would have, except for maybe Rowen. Or possibly Cye. I didn't know that Kayura had any idea about it. It was my grandfather's code. We're lucky that the appearance of the statue freaked out Rowen so much that he didn't look too closely at it. She left me a warning, Nik."

"Which was?"

"She said _…'The devil isn't the only creature that emerges from the dark'_." Silence fell between them and Nikki felt a coldness settle into her bones. She looked around at the silent stone and shivered.

"We're all alone in here, aren't we Mia?" Nikki whispered softly to her friend. Mia said nothing, but after a moment reached out to squeeze Nikki's hand.

"It's okay, Nik. We're doing the right thing."

"_Mia, are we doing the right thing? Mia?"_

"…_Yes. We have no other choice." _

Nikki looked sharply at Mia and dropped her fingers.

"That shit only worked on Cassie, Mia," Nikki said, wrapping her arms around herself and increasing her stride. "Just tell me what I need to do to get this over with." With that Nikki went ahead to walk alone. Mia sighed and fingered the necklace at her throat.

"Are we doing the right thing, Mia?" she asked herself softly. Then she saw Kento staring hard at her, his face stony, and Mia dropped her necklace. They were doing the right thing. She had to believe that. Mia let her hands fall loose to her sides and followed her one time best friends, the people who were still her entire universe, people she had sworn to protect no matter what, for their sake and the world's. She followed them down into her own personal hell. It was the right thing to do. It _had_ to be. And she wasn't planning on telling even Nikki the second part of the message Kayura had left, the part begging for Mia to help her.

-----------------

_He_ sat crossed legged in front of the statue, running _his_ fingers over the cold stone that had been fashioned into an open book. _He_ laid his palm down on the surface of the page, ignoring the pain it caused _him_. Not yet. It wasn't time quite yet, but soon. _He_ grinned and rose, moving back towards the entrance of the cave. There was still time to play before work had to be attended to. There was always time for one more game.

-----------------

It was the opposite of a normal city. The deeper they moved into the place, the further away each building was from the next. They rose higher and higher, slick beautiful monstrosities of stone that gleamed seductively. At the same time they sucked at the light, drawing more and more away from Sage's sword, letting the light sink inside. The darkness between each one grew thicker, black and inky even when Sage asked Halo for more illumination. Cye shifted uncomfortably, listening to Ryo and Rowen talk quietly.

"Did you catch any of what those two were saying back there?" Ryo asked Rowen. The blue haired man grimaced and shook his head.

"No. I tried, but there's no wind in here to carry their voices even this far. Armor-aided eavesdropping isn't what it used to be."

"Not that you ever used that particular ability on the rest of us," Ryo commented blandly. Rowen shot him a wolfish grin before sobering. Both men's eyes scanned their surroundings intently, calculatingly.

"We're not alone in here, are we?" Rowen muttered. Ryo glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

"You okay back there Cye?" Ryo asked suddenly over his shoulder. The warrior of Torrent murmured yes, but Rowen looked back at his friend. He'd caught the same feelings coming off of Cye that Ryo already had. Cye looked pale in his armor, red hair contrasting starkly with his skin. Despite the coolness of the air, sweat beaded down his face, and his hands gripped his yari too tightly.

"What's up, Cye?" Rowen murmured, slowing so he could fall into step next to his comrade.

"Something's…off," Cye said tensely, eyes casting around. Sage raised his head, having been concentrating more and more on the light of Halo, his face starting to show the strain of maintaining the illumination for so long. His eyes narrowed.

"I feel it too," Sage put in. "Like something is tugging at my armor. But that's been there ever since we came here."

"No," Cye said shortly, slapping his hand down on the shaft of his weapon. "No, something more…" He drifted off and didn't finish his sentence. Ryo didn't say anything, eyes intent on their surroundings. Sage glanced at him again and the light flickered, momentarily letting the buildings around them fall into darkness.

"Sage!" Cye snapped, swinging his weapon out towards the buildings. The light brightened again, but Cye's eyes never left the buildings. Ryo's eyes had bulged as he stepped back, but he didn't say what he had seen. Instead he swung around to find Hardrock.

"Kento!" Ryo roared, "Get everyone up here NOW!" Then quiet enough that the girls couldn't hear yet, Ryo spoke between clenched teeth.

"Sage…_Don't let the lights go out_."

Mia hurried up to them, gripping her bag tightly. "What's going on?" she asked worriedly. Ryo jerked a hand up, cutting her off. The only sound was the quiet scrapping of steel being drawn, making Nikki shiver.

"Keep…moving," Ryo snarled at the group, turning his back to them and moving around so he was behind. Hesitantly Rowen started walking again, gripping his bow and reaching slowly for an arrow, as if quick movements would give them away. Ryo walked backwards, eyes glued to the path they had just traveled. Kento mimicked his leader, his eyes flickering constantly.

"Mia, any better idea of where this seal thing is? Now would be a good time to say," Rowen growled, and Mia turned to him, eyes wide. The coolness was quickly being replaced by fear.

"Your…your armors should draw you to it," she stammered, before muttering to herself. "Why I go into these situations without any weapons at all…"

"You have five weapons, Mia," Nikki snapped back. "You just don't want to use them."

"Don't start now, Nikki," Mia shot out.

"God forbid…" Something flickered at the edge of her vision, making Nikki start.

"Both of you, shut up now!" Cye snapped, uncharacteristically harsh. "Ryo, did you…?"

"Yeah, I saw it. Just a flicker though."

Kento jerked around, cursing. "It's over here," he growled.

"Not if it's over here," Rowen murmured, notching his arrow. "I can't get a good look at it though, it's moving too fast."

The light dimmed again, and Sage cursed, unusual for him. Mia realized that he was gripping the sword of Halo with both hands, his face straining. Sweat slid over his skin and his arms were trembling.

"Sage!" Mia cried.

"Something's…something's pulling at the light. Sucking it up. I can't…can't hold this much longer…" Sage gasped, stumbling. Mia grabbed him to keep him from falling, staggering under the weight of Halo's armor. The light dimmed again, dipping dangerously low.

Nikki thought very seriously about hyperventilating at this point.

"Sage," Rowen said thickly, sighting down his arrow as he swept it back and forth, following dark fleeting shapes, "Hold on for us buddy…I almost have it…"

"Hurry, Rowen!" Sage said through clenched teeth, sliding down to one knee. Mia tried to pull him up as best she could. White Blaze started to growl deep in his throat.

"I hate it when he starts doing that," Nikki whispered to herself. "It's never good."

"Almost…" Rowen muttered. The light dipped even lower, bringing a squeak from Nikki, despite herself.

"Almost…"

_TWANG_.

The golden arrow ripped into the darkness. Something screeched in pain, high pitched and startling. Then everything went still. No flickers. Nothing. That's when the first murmur reached their ears. The first angry murmur. Then came the second. Then the third.

"Rowen..." Nikki whispered. "I don't think that was a good idea." The smug satisfaction that had come to Rowen's face melted off as understanding crept in. Then regret. Then fear. The murmurs began to build in volume, like an angry crowd with tempers flaring. It came from all sides. Instinctively everyone tightened in on each other, backs and shoulders hitting.

"Guys!" Mia cried, drawing their attention to Sage. Halo had fallen to both knees, slumped over, gripping his sword with every ounce of strength he had. Mia was barely keeping him upright, staring at him helplessly. A shadow passed through the sword itself, eliciting a moan from Sage, his eyes clenched shut.

"Ryo…" Sage whispered. "Ryo, I can't…not much longer…I'm sorry…"

Wildfire straightened, looking at his comrades. A wave of cold passed over him, chilling him down into his bones. His blue eyes held each of theirs momentarily. He might not understand why he was their leader, but their leader he would always be. Ryo let his eyes linger on Mia's frightened face for a moment longer. Her expression softened and she whispered, "Ryo…"

Then Ryo stepped away from the circle.

"Cye, Kento, Rowen. Protect them from me," he ordered clearly. "Do whatever it takes."

"Ryo! What if this is just another illusion?" Rowen demanded.

"It's not," Mia whispered.

"How do you know?" Rowen cut in. Mia's face was pure white as she knelt by Sage.

"Because…" she whispered, "'_the devil isn't the only creature that emerges from the dark_'."

The murmurs had increased in volume, a crescendo of angry roars coming from all sides. Nikki whimpered and searched for a weapon of some kind. Finding nothing, she reached for Mia's bag, yanking out her laptop. She brandished it in front of her like a shield.

Something passed between Ryo and the other three Ronins, and they moved to form a triangle around the girls and their comrade. Ryo took another step back from the safety of their circle. Then he brought the ends of his swords together with a click. Sage cried out, collapsing against the flat blade of Halo's sword. The light flickered once. Twice. Ryo closed his eyes as the roars abruptly ceased.

Then the lights went out.

-------------

_"Ryo, have you ever noticed that you always go flying in trying to save everybody without any thought for yourself? You never hesitate. You always jump right in. It's terrifying." He had the grace to blush slightly, running a hand through his hair. Then he turned those kind eyes on her._

_"Mia…have you ever noticed that you do it too?" She looked away, embarrassed._

_"…I never want you guys to ever get hurt," she admitted. " But I usually just end up getting in the way."_

_"Mia, do you know what the difference between us is?"_

_"What?" _

_He touched her underneath her chin and smiled that beautiful smile as he said,_

"_Absolutely nothing."_

-------------

It was hauntingly familiar, the sight of three glowing spheres of light surrounding the girls, the tiger, and Sage. Ryo felt like he was looking back in time, listening to the sound of crunching feet as the Warlord of Cruelty bore down on the then naïve and untrained Ronins. Only this time the circles of light weren't protection from the enemy. They were protection from _him_.

The Wildfire armor shuddered a warning and Ryo turned, his back to his friends. Armor enhanced vision pierced the darkness, and Ryo tightened his grip on his katanas involuntarily. _They're everywhere_…

And they were everywhere. On the building tops, clinging to the smooth stone walls, dangling from windows, perched on fountains, filling the street, pawing at the barrier around his friends with long fingertips, around him, at his feet, breathing right behind his ear. The stench filled his nostrils, creatures of darkness that undulated like a living blanket as they moved, ripples of death pressing all around them, pushing at him. Pulling him down into them.

He attempted to fight down the rising panic. He'd been in worse. He'd seen worse. Talpa and his legions were worse. He'd seen worse…

The keening started, building faster until it was a high pitched scream ripping through his brain. Ryo cried out, clamping his hands involuntarily over his ears. It pushed him down to his knees, painfully driving out any coherent thought he'd previously possessed. What might have been nails dug into his armor, pulling at his strength, sucking it away. Fear tore through Wildfire, and for a moment he was lost.

"Ryo!" he heard a female voice cry out in terror, and he knew without seeing that his friends were being overwhelmed. Rage, burning white hot, enveloped Ryo. The roar of a tiger barely broke through the onslaught, but it was enough to reach Ryo, reminding him who was protecting and just what it was that he had come to do. He forced himself up, past those groping, biting grips, raising his joined katanas above him. He prayed that the combined strength of his three friends was enough to protect the others from what he was about to do. Ryo waded deeper into the flood of creatures, closing his mind away from the shrieks surrounding him.

Ryo burst into flame, liquid fire rolling down his legs and up his arms to his weapon. The creatures touching him fell back, retreating from the light and heat.

_That's the difference between us Sage, _Ryo thought with calm detachment as he stared at the ocean of darkness laid out before him._ They feed off of your light and goodness. But I'm just as destructive as they are. They consume only light, but I consume everything! My armor feeds off of _them

A younger, less desperate Ryo would have been terrified at that admittance to himself. But this Ryo reveled in it. He was trapped hundreds of feet inside the earth, scared and outnumbered. But if he was going down, he would take every single one of them down with him.

There was no Armor of Inferno to fight, to hold back. There was only him. Ryo wasn't aware of the first row of creatures bursting into flame as he let loose the destruction that filled him. In fact, as fire ripped through the street, over the small group of people huddled in fear between three balls of light, down through the city, across the cave, consuming everything that stood in its path from ceiling to floor, Ryo wasn't aware of much at all.

-------------

Mia had thought that the terror of the creatures pressing down all around them, screaming and dragging at their strength, couldn't ever be matched. That was until the sheet of flame. She had seen it coming, had _felt_ it coming. She had fallen to the ground, body pressed protectively over Sage's, staring up at their shield when the wall of heat hit them. It had slammed them so hard that Rowen and Cye had staggered back, almost breaking the defense barrier. Only Kento had remained steadfast, while the others tried to regain their bearings.

It was like being burned alive, without the disastrous consequences. Cocooned in a ball of safety Mia'd watched for the first time, without flinching away, the ultra ballistic power that belonged to Ryo. Even after it had died down, rolling off their defenses like water, Mia had remained on her back over Sage, quivering in shock. He'd let loose in a way he never had before…Ryo had almost destroyed everything, including them!

There was a creak of armors and a chorus of groans as the three standing Ronins released the barrier. Rowen and Cye reached out and gripped each other for support while Kento leaned over and spat, crimson on his lips from where he'd bitten his cheek in pain.

"I almost couldn't hold that," Rowen admitted, voice strained and raspy. "If you hadn't held firm, Kento…" Rowen trailed off. Kento said nothing but glanced at the girls. Cye had slipped to his knees and was breathing deep, calming breaths. He looked shaken, which wasn't surprising. His armor was the compliment to Ryo's, and excessive fire would affect him the most.

Kento shook himself like a dog, turning and moving to the center where Nikki and Mia remained frozen. He helped Nikki to her feet first, then Mia. Then he knelt down, looping Sage's arm over his shoulders. Halo had regained consciousness, and his sword was once again glowing, but he was pale and drawn. Kento turned and Sage reached out to grip Mia's hand momentarily, violet eyes exhausted. There was a measure of peacemaking in that gesture. Mia stared at him wide-eyed, then pulled away quickly, turning her face from everyone to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. The action didn't go unnoticed but they had more important things to deal with.

The fact that Ryo had destroyed the city being one of them.

Everything was gone, burned down to ashes despite being stone. Everywhere they looked, only charred crumbles remained. There wasn't a noise or a flicker or a sign that there was anything else there but them. Much further down what had once been the street they'd been following, remained one lone structure, previously hidden by all the others. Despite the fury of the Wildfire armor, it stood unmarked, a squat pale building only slightly higher than the others had been. Unremarkable, except for the fact it was still there.

Ryo stood twenty feet away, his back to them, completely still. The Ronins looked at each other questioningly, as if loath to disturb their leader after his fight. Mia took a deep breath and marched up to Ryo. She had to stop a couple feet away from him, the heat radiating off his armor overwhelming.

"Ryo?" she asked softly. "Ryo, are you okay?"

His voice was quiet and curious as he answered.

"Did you know my armor could do that, Mia?" he asked. "Did you know I could destroy that much?"

"No one knows the true potential of these armors, Ryo," Mia replied. "That's what makes them so dangerous. But are you okay?" He laughed, sounding out of place after all the fighting.

"Did you know that I'm not even tired? Inferno always drained me so deeply, but these new armors…It felt right to let go like that."

"Ryo…" Mia started worriedly, then he turned to her. The worry on her face was mirrored by his own, but the leader of the Ronins was trying to pass it off. Mia just gave him a weak smile, which Ryo returned. She tried to pretend she wasn't suddenly very nervous in his presence.

The others moved up, Kento supporting Sage, Nikki's arm around Cye's waist, and Rowen looking a bit peeved.

"Well, buddy," Rowen commented blandly, "at least you narrowed down the options of where we're going."

"Does anyone else feel like this is too easy?" Cye asked them quietly. "Like we're much too sure we know where to go?" Nikki and Mia exchanged a look but Rowen just snorted derisively.

"Cye. We're in a cave looking for something. There is now only one place left to look. That place right there. You don't have to be a genius to put two and two together."

"Don't be a jackass, Rowen-" Nikki started but Ryo cut her off quietly.

"No, he's right Ro," Ryo said, "Something feels off. But something's felt off since all this started. So we follow where we're led, and just see where it all ends up, okay?" Ryo looked briefly at Mia, then smiled again, shaking his head at something no one else understood. The tiger moved to his side, tail flicking. The others had no choice but to follow their leader, down to the cold stone structure that awaited them, not even the girls knowing just what they were walking into. _He_ trailed afterwards, skipping every once in awhile and enjoying _himself_ immensely, face split in a grin.

**Will our heroes be able to regain their memories in time to defeat their foe? Does the destructive power of Ryo's armor pose a threat to those he hold dear? Does anyone in the Nether Realm REALLY wear army boots? We'll find out next time, on Ronin Warriors. **(Ronin Warriors…do doo dooo dooo…Ronin Warriors…)

-

-

-

-

A/N #2 Now I'm where I want to be. New chapters (aka Ch 14) start after this. Probably four or five more chapters left before this fic is done.


	16. Chapter 14

A/N This chapter, as the several previous chapters, took a while to get out. Thank the awesome people at Samurai Fanservice for prodding me on, or it would have taken much longer. My plan is to have the fic completed by Christmas (crosses fingers). Warning, there's some implied sexual scenes and tough stuff. Remember I rated this M for a reason. If you are under 16, please please don't read this. If you have a squeamish stomach, please please don't read this. As for the rest of you guys, same stuff applies. I don't own Ronin Warriors, and constructive criticism is always welcomed.

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter Fourteen

"It's one thing to be alone. It's another to _know_ that you are."

-untitled-

_Mia lay in the darkness listening to the sounds of her own breathing. She counted the beats of her heart between the time she sucked in a small pocket of air until the moment it left her mouth with a soft whoosh. She closed her eyes and concentrated on this, letting everything else slide from her mind. She counted over and over again until she knew exactly when her heart quickened and when it slowed. Nothing else changed. Nothing else was different. She reached three and her heart skipped an off beat. Mia opened her eyes and stared at the empty dark room. Nothing had changed, absolutely nothing._

_Except that she wasn't alone any more._

_Mia forced her muscles to remain relaxed and soft, her breathing slow. Tiny signs. That was all she had to go by. She wasn't Cassie, she couldn't sense the malevolent presence with a disability-bred heightened awareness. She wasn't White Blaze, with animal instincts. She wasn't Nikki, who somehow managed to fall apart emotionally every time He came around, without even knowing why. No, Mia wasn't any of them. All she had to go by was her brain. And her brain told her that the most amusing place for him to be right now would be right next to her on the bed, watching her scan the room for him. He was right there. _He had been right there the entire time.

_Mia stared up at the darkness, counting her heartbeats between breaths. She waited for what seemed like an eternity and then she felt it. Just a subtle shift, a corner of the sheet moving when she didn't. The instincts she did possess screamed a warning, but the young woman remained still. One...two...three..._

_"I have a proposition for you," Mia whispered up into the darkness. The sheet shifted again, and despite her fear she had a momentary feeling of elation. She had known where he was this time. This time for one moment they were on equal footing. She felt the warm breath tickle her neck, sending a shiver through her body. Cool lips brushed her earlobe as Damian whispered,_

_"I'm listening."_

--------------

The world was a hard place, as Ryo Sanada could have told anyone. It doesn't matter what you want or where you were planning to go; life has a way of lifting you up and slamming you down right where it wants you. Off the top of his head he could think of a thousand different moments in his life that he wished had gone differently, but there was nothing he could do about them. That was partly where Ryo drew his strength from. He had no choice in the path that life had led him down, but that didn't mean that he couldn't follow that path with as much courage and honor as he could hold inside his body. Ryo would roll with the punches and come up swinging. But the girl in front of him right now, the one that was making him want to tear his hair out in frustration, wasn't like him. In fact, she wasn't like any of them. Ryo was starting to believe that there wasn't a single brave bone in her body; that she was a case study of pure aggravation. The girl in front of him wasn't rolling with the punches…she was swinging punches before the fight even started. And right now, that girl was refusing to budge.

"I'm not going in there." She flapped her hand in the direction of the stone monstrosity not fifteen feet away from them, its gigantic doors looming forebodingly over the group. Ryo stood in front of her, his massive body armor making him seem much larger than he actually was. A forced look of patience was on his face, but his brilliant blue eyes glittered with what could only be taken as intense irritation.

"Nikki, we have to go in there. We have to find a way to defeat this Damian guy. I need everyone with me to fight him, and I can't spare anyone to leave out here with you." Ryo's voice was kind and sympathetic, a sharp contrast to his gritted teeth. This was really the last thing he need right now. The dark haired woman in front of him had her hands on her hips and her small feet planted in the dirt. The look of stubbornness on her face was so complete that the image of a mule came to mind, short and reluctant and pissy. Behind him Cye snorted and Nikki gave the Ronin of Torrent a dirty look. Ryo took a deep calming breath, feeling the rising frustration coming off of Sage and Kento. Rowen was oddly neutral, seeming content to watch. Mia was no help here; she had sunk further inside herself with every step they took towards their destination. She had paused at the door and stood silently, eyes closed. That was when Nikki had decided to throw a hissy fit.

"I don't have to go anywhere. In fact, out of everyone here, I'm the least equipped to be going anywhere near this place. Do I look like I can protect myself?" Nikki demanded, stamping her foot.

"Maybe you could bitch the bad guy to death," Cye suggested mildly. "We haven't tried that approach yet."

"Don't you start in, Torrent!" Nikki snapped. "I take that crap from Rowen all the time, I don't have to take it from you too."

"We're wasting time," Kento said shortly. He walked up to where Mia stood closed eyed in front of the large building, and he stared up at the huge stone door. It looked incredibly heavy and strong. Kento wondered if it was possible to be able to move it, even with his strength. He quirked an eyebrow at Mia and quipped,

"Does anyone have a van handy?"

Mia said nothing in reply. Kento sighed and gave her a long worried look. They were losing her bit by bit, if they hadn't lost her already.

"How do we get in here, Mia?" Kento asked seriously. The red-head opened her eyes and smiled tightly.

"Just knock on the door, Kento. They're not trying to keep us out." He gave her a hard look, then strode up to the door. Hardrock pushed on it lightly. It didn't budge. He gave it a hard shove, but there was still nothing. Mia leveled a sardonic look at Kento.

"I said knock, Kento. You can't force your way in these places." Mia's eyes glazed over as she muttered, "You have to go willingly."

Kento gave her a long searching look, then rapped his knuckles against the door. It swung effortlessly aside.

"Nikki, we need to go," Ryo said, reaching out to take a hold of her arm. She swatted his hand away, the expression on her face flashing from stubborn to terrified back to stubborn so fast that Ryo wasn't completely sure he had seen it. She shook her head stiffly, eyes flickering as she stared down at her feet, as if she was thinking very very quickly. It was something Rowen often did when trying to solve a particularly tough problem. Before she had a chance to say anything, Cye stepped forward, gripping her elbow firmly.

"Enough, Nik. We're running out of time." She continued to stare at the ground, shoulders tensed, seemingly oblivious to Cye's words. Then Mia's soft voice spoke up.

"Nikki. We need to finish this. Now." Mia's voice turned hard, and Nikki's head snapped up. She glared at the other woman angrily, then yanked her arm away from Cye. From his stance by Sage, White Blaze growled warningly.

"Fine," she snapped. "Lead on, oh great leader," Nikki said sarcastically, marching towards the now open door, her words unclear as to who she meant. Halo's light didn't penetrate deep enough into the shadows to show what lay beyond the door.

Cye gave Rowen a pointed look, indicating that Nikki was his responsibility now. Rowen merely relaxed his stance. Cye's expression became disgusted and he turned on his heel, striding after the dark haired woman. Rowen just shrugged as if to say that he certainly wasn't going to waste his time trying to keep Nikki safe. Ryo actually agreed with him, as he too moved towards the entrance of the last remaining structure in this underground hell hole. Nikki had paused at Mia's side, where the red head stood gripping her necklace in her hand. Then Mia stepped forward and disappeared into the darkness, the Ronin Warriors trailing behind silently. Their brightly colored armors blended into black, until not even Sage's blonde hair could be seen anymore.

Nikki stood outside the door, staring up in dismay. A trickle of air brushed her neck, eliciting a small whimper. _Where's Cassie when I need her?_ Nikki thought bitterly. The blonde woman had always calmed her, even in times like this. Nikki had never felt so torn in her life. One part of her wanted to dash in behind them to face their enemy, one part was screaming that they needed to come clean before things got any worse, and one part of her wanted to get the hell out of there, regardless who got hurt in the aftermath. She remained motionless for a long moment, fighting with herself. She almost turned around. But two pairs of blue eyes won out, one unseeing but infinitely kind and another angry and confused. Taking a deep steadying breath, Nikki plunged into the dark.

-------------

Outside the cave a beetle crawled up the arm of a statue. Its hard dark body made clicking noises as it scurried across the face of a stunningly beautiful woman, her perfection marred only by the look of horror the artist had carved into her countenence. A small breeze brushed the beetle, causing it to cling precariously to the statue until it once again had its balance. The beetle quickly hurried off. The expression on the statue's face remained the same.

-------------

The darkness only remained for a second, then the group stepped out into the light. They were in a perfectly round domed room, the walls covered with beautiful pictures and tapestries, the dome painted in bright colors. Gleaming gold veins curled through walls, glittering as they peaked out from behind artwork. Sweet fresh air filled the room, and Sage took a great long breath, enjoying the taste after the damp acrid air of the cave. Several hallways forked away from the room, running further than the eye could see, each gilded in the same showy decorations. It was beautiful. It was opulent. It was incredible.

Mia stepped into the middle of the room, staring up at the domed ceiling in wonder. Around her the Ronins moved towards the walls, eyes wide. Rowen motioned Sage over to a particular piece that sat in a small alcove next to where a hallway started. It was a tiny piece of glass, fashioned so delicately that neither man wanted to touch it. It was swirls and specks, all intricately interlocking. Rowen's jaw had dropped.

"Sage!" Rowen whispered, "Do you know what this is?" Sage shook his head. A shiver of excitement went through the Ronin of Strata.

"It's a galaxy," Kento said, coming up behind the other two and staring over their shoulders at the priceless piece. Ryo moved to see what the others were looking at. A huge grin split Rowen's face.

"Not just any galaxy, Kento. Our galaxy. Exactly. Down to every last star I can recognize! It's….amazing!"

Ryo shrugged, his interest lying in other things besides astronomy. He looked back to where Mia was standing, her feet planted in the middle of the circle, her red hair falling down her back. Her eyes in her upturned face were once again closed, and if he didn't know better Ryo would've sworn that she looked almost in physical pain. White Blaze crouched at her feet, eyes glowing and tail twitching. Cye was further to her right, staring at the wall opposite of them in wonder. An alarm went off in Ryo's head and he swung around to where Nikki had just appeared, paused in the doorway. Her face had gone completely white.

"Mia?" she whispered, hands tightening into small fists. "Mia? This isn't right." The red head said nothing, but all five Ronins turned to stare at Nikki. Nikki took one step forward and stopped, gasping as she whimpered almost to herself.

_"It doesn't look like this…"_

They only had a moment's warning this time, that same high pitched shriek as before. The Ronins instinctively surged towards the center of the room. Even Rowen who had not been at Mia's when it had happened before, took one frantic step towards the girls. But it was too late. They heard Mia laugh, a soft hopeless sound, then the world once again exploded and everything went black.

--------------

Nikki coughed as she came to, choking on dust and stale air. Something heavy was pushing all over her body, crushing down painfully into her ribcage. Panicking momentarily, she shoved as hard as she could against the object. It didn't move. With a cry she struck at it with her hands, hitting as hard as she could. Her mind flashed to an image she'd seen on television of an earthquake that had sandwiched a double decker freeway back home. Cars and people had been crushed between the layers. She'd always thought that was a horrible way to die. Nikki wasn't about let it happen to her. She shoved once more, adrenaline racing through her veins and giving her more strength. The object crushing her rolled off and grunted in pain.

Grunted?

Nikki sat up and instantly felt horrible as brown eyes met disgruntled sea blue. Cye remained on his side where she'd shoved him, his armor looking like he'd just been tossed into a blender. The parts of his body not completely protected by the Ronin armor, mainly his face, were scratched and bruised. Nikki looked around her and realized why Torrent was so beat up. They had been thrown down a hall, far away from the center room where they'd been attacked. A Cye-sized, foot deep scrape had been dug out of the stone floor for as far as she could see. Nikki shook her head in wonder. She remembered walking into the room, then hearing the sound that always came before the shockwaves. The guys had all jumped towards her and Mia as it hit…Cye must have gotten to her right before they were thrown. Nikki blushed in embarrassment as she turned back to Cye.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, crawling to his side. Cye coughed loudly then spat gravel out of his mouth. He gave her one more glare then nodded.

"I'm fine," he stated, armor creaking as he gingerly stood. He looked around them, eyeing the plain stone walls of the narrow corridor. His eye sight had always been good, but in the dim light provided by the lit torches on the wall, he couldn't see all the way back to the center room. Cye decided he didn't want to know how or why the corridor was lit, or by whom. Grimacing against the pain in his back from being thrown so far, Cye leaned over and pulled Nikki to her feet.

"Are you hurt?" Cye asked her. Nikki shook her head, deciding against mentioning her ribs. Cye looked around one more time, head tipped to the side.

"Well," he said in a matter of fact manner, "We probably should try to get back to the others. We obviously came from that direction." Cye pointed at the trail his scraping armor had left for them. Nikki just shrugged. She didn't have any better ideas than to follow Torrent back the way they came.

Cye said nothing as they walked, his armored feet clinking with disquieting regularity in the silence of the corridor. Nikki drifted closer to then further from his side. She unconsciously sought the protective shadow of the Ronin armor, having seen its strength and knowing its power. Yet her brain told her that hiding behind the target made you more of one. Plus Cye's returning abilities of empathy were making her uncomfortable. Nikki never knew just how much the soft spoken young man actually knew about her thoughts and feelings.

As if on cue, Cye turned his head and gave her a tight smile.

"It's not like I try to pry in on everyone, Nik," Cye murmured, sounding slightly unhappy. "It all just kind of happens whether I want it to or not. I can't control it very well yet."

Nikki flushed but still gave Cye a sympathetic look. He had never liked her, but he had always tried to be kind to her. Nikki knew that it really wasn't Cye's fault he was an empath. It definitely wasn't his fault that it was all hitting him at once like this. The truth of matter was that if his memories hadn't been taken from him, his control over the gift would have been much more complete. But like so many things, Cye's empathy had been a liability and couldn't be overlooked.

_For his own good_, Nikki thought sadly as she looked ahead. Cye's head snapped around and his eyes bored holes into her, but Nikki didn't acknowledge him. Cye seemed to struggle with something before his face smoothed. He tipped his head again to the side and looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Nikki, can I ask you something?"

"What?" she asked, voice suspicious until she saw the honest open way Cye was looking at her. This wasn't Rowen, she had to remind herself. Cye didn't look at life like a chess game; he didn't try to outmaneuver her until she was cornered.

"What, Cye?" she repeated in a softer tone.

"Well, something just occurred to me. You girls said that Damian is a being from another realm."

"Yeah. And?" Nikki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You said that what we see isn't really him, that it was just part of him, an astral projection."

"Not quite," Nikki corrected absently, peering ahead into the dim light. "It's his essence, the heart of what he is. The form we see is how he sees himself, what he believes he is. He's evil, but he's got a twisted sense of humor that dominates everything else. Most bad guys want to take over the world, like your Talpa tried to do. Damian just…_is_."

Cye pursed his lips, hand instinctively brushing his yari for reassurance before he continued. They had already come at least one hundred yards, making him wonder just how far that shockwave had actually thrown them.

"But the kind of power he has here to attack us is so great. Does that mean that he's even stronger in his true form?"

"Yes." Nikki's reply was curt, and her shoulders had stiffened. Cye continued on, ignoring her reaction to the questioning.

"Then why doesn't he just come here in his true form? With that kind of strength, imagine the damage he could cause!" Cye exclaimed in horror. Nikki shook her head, staring unseeing ahead of her.

"He can't. Or won't really. It's complicated." Cye arched an eyebrow at her.

"Try me," he challenged. Nikki rolled her eyes then narrowed them. She ran a hand through her hand thoughtfully.

"Think of it this way. Everything is made of up parts. There's the biological parts, like organs and blood and stuff. Then there's the emotional part, or soul if you will. It's made up of your thoughts and your dreams and feelings, but most importantly your energy."

"Go on," Cye encouraged. She was starting to get excited, her hands flapping vigorously as she spoke.

"I'm going to throw some physics at you here, but stay with me. Believe it or not, energy is tangible. If you turn on the gas in a gas stove, the gas catches fire and transfers energy in the form of heat to your burner. Put a pot on the stove and let it sit for a while, then grab the handle, you're going to get burned. You're being burned by energy in the form of heat. The emotional part of you is energy, and while that presents a problem if you're trying to get energy from one realm to another, it's not as big of a problem as the biological part.

"The emotional part of you is tangible, but very liquid. Think about it in terms of water. If you lift up a handful of water and spread your fingers, the water runs right through. It moves around the barriers of your fingers easily, flowing past on the path of least resistance. Taking that part of your self between realms isn't the hard part. If there's some sort of hole between each realm, some sort of pathway, then the energy can get through. But like the burning gas heating the stove, the energy has to be changed into a form that is useful in the situation, namely useful in traveling between realms.

"The physical part is different. It is tangible too, but it's made up of more solid material. Think about Star Trek. When they beamed up Captain Kirk, they messed around with the atoms that make him up. I won't bore you with the theories on that stuff, but traveling between realms is the same thing. Instead of water in your hand you have sand now. Pick it up and spread your hand and it still flows through, but little grains still get trapped and hung up. Your atoms get hung up in between the holes, and the next thing you know you're stuck in between realms in some sort of stasis that I don't even want to imagine." At this Nikki trailed off and shuddered. Then she launched back into her explanation with a force that would have made Rowen proud.

"So for Damian to travel his entire self between realms, it is much harder and also a bigger risk. As far as Mia or I could tell, he did a kind of combination when he came. He brought his emotional part, but he also brought some physical part as well. We call that his essence. He's here, but not all the way. That means that when he attacks us, the attacks are more powerful than they would be if he was only emotionally here. We can hurt him, but not very much because the main part of his physical body is still in his own realm."

Cye took all this in, trying to process it all. Then confusion spread over his face. "But then how does it work with us?"

"Well, when you guys traveled back and forth from earth to the Nether Realm, the best that Mia and I could come up with was that the armor worked as a sort of protective vessel. Then when Mia and Yuli went there as well, the power of the ancient acted as a kind of pseudo protection. Did it ever feel weird for you during the transitions from one to the other?" Nikki suddenly asked curiously. Cye thought about it, hand rubbing his lower back as he walked.

"When you bring it up, yeah. I guess so. It kind of felt like I was being squeezed all over, as if putting on too tight of clothes. It would tingle, then burn, then we'd be through. It was never something we talked about."

Nikki nodded as if he'd just supported a theory of hers. He had in fact.

"That feeling was from the physical part of you going through the…the fingers if you will. They 'Captain Kirk' you, beam you through the holes, transfer you from one place to another, from one state to another, using your energy to do it."

"But doesn't that use up your energy? Your emotional part?" Cye asked her worriedly.

"Energy doesn't disappear, Cye, but yeah…it gets transferred away. When you go between realms you lose part of yourself. When your body comes too, it's much harder and you lose even more of your energy. It's very dangerous. That's why Damian doesn't bring too much of himself over, that's why you guys have the protective armor, and that's why it was necessary for the ancient's power to be there to protect Mia and Yuli. That's our theory anyway."

"If Damian's so much stronger in his realm, why doesn't he take us back there and fight us? Why even mess around here at all?" Cye wondered. Again Nikki shook her head.

"He can't take us against our will. That's too hard. It would be like trying to tear through six feet of concrete with your bare hands. And when you throw in the wills of your armors, it's even more complicated. Your old armors had wills of their own. When you and Kento and Sage were kidnapped by the Dynasty, Mia figured that your armors didn't fight the jump between realms for reasons of their own. Maybe they wanted the fight taken to the Nether Realm, where there were more enemies to face. I don't know. But Damian can't take any of us against our will."

Nikki took a deep breath and looked up. Then she gasped. Cye instinctively reached for his yari, then realized what had caused Nikki's shock. Where the round room had once been was now being blocked by a sheet of rock. They were sealed away from their friends. Nikki stepped forward and placed her hand against the rock. Right in the middle of the wall, at exactly her eyelevel, there was something scratched crudely into the stone. Cye noticed it as well and stepped forward to see it just as Nikki jerked back. She quivered and turned her back as Cye stared in disbelief at the rough smiley face staring back at him.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Cye asked. Nikki gave a weak laugh and leaned back against the corridor wall, sliding slowly down to the ground, her elbows on her knees.

"Is there some bizarre obscure reason why this thing is here? Some hidden secret you girls neglected to tell us about?" Cye voice had become slightly acidic. A lot had just been thrown at him the last couple days, especially the last couple hours, and the girl next to him was radiating an overwhelming amount of fear and…amusement?

"No, Cye," Nikki said, burrowing her face in her hands. Frustrated Cye leaned over and gripped her chin, pulling her face up so she had to look at him. Her dark brown eyes were red rimmed and wet.

"Then what Nik?" Cye pressed letting go of her head. She laid her cheek against her arm and gave him a tired smile.

"I like smilies. That's for me."

"Why?"

"Cye, haven't you figured any of this out yet? There is no reason. There hasn't ever been a reason. It just _is_."

--------------

When she finally regained consciousness, Mia opened her eyes to find that she was all alone. No….no White Blaze was still there. She'd just heard him rumble behind her. Mia sat up and rubbed her head, fighting the nausea that accompanied the movement. She stood gingerly, looking around her. A door had slammed down between the room and each hallway, effectively sealing her off from where she assumed the others had been thrown. It had to have been a shockwave, only that would have knocked her out so fast and so completely. But in a place like this, a shockwave should have brought the building down on their heads. They should all be dead.

Mia once again stared up at the domed ceiling, now dark cold stone, free of any decoration or beauty. Several ancient torches lined the walls, the smoke of the flames leaving a bitter smell in her nostrils. _Just like before…_Mia shivered despite herself. She knew this place. She had known this place the moment they had reached its doors; she had known it when they had first stepped into the room. No number of beautiful decorations could hide what had happened here. This place was in her dreams, somewhere her mind fled from and yet was forced to return to on a nightly basis. Some places you can never escape from, mentally. Physically either. She was sealed in, with no way out. She was going to die here, all alone in the place where she'd betrayed herself. _Where she'd betrayed them all_. The irony was more than she could handle and she stared to laugh. Her laughter echoed off the walls, surrounding her until it turned into sobs.

Mia sank to her knees. Teardrops glittered as they hit the stone beneath her. She raised her face once more to the ceiling, tears streaming down her face. She was ready for this all to be over. Like Nikki, she too had had enough. White Blaze watched impassively, never once moving any closer to the crying woman. His tail twitched and he too looked up at the ceiling. Ignorant of such things as irony and remorse, the tiger waited for what he knew would eventually come.

--------------------

The yari didn't even leave a scratch on the stone wall. The smilie grinned crookedly, as if it knew Cye's attempts to break through the wall had centered around it. Cye slid down to sit next to Nikki, at a loss as to what to do next. He didn't want to risk using his sure kill with her this close and he couldn't send her down the hall. He didn't want to let her out of his sight, just in case something else besides just them was in the corridor, and there were no guarantees that the attack wouldn't come right back and hit them. He'd be alright, if even more bruised, but that wasn't something he was prepared to do to Nikki.

"We need to start moving again," Cye finally said. "We can't stay here. If I can't get through it, then they can't either. We'll just have to find another way."

"Or we could just wait for it to all be over. It will eventually. If we just sit here long enough, he might get bored enough to either kill us or go away." It was the most dismal thing he had ever heard her say, and it triggered a memory in him. He could see her, smiling and laughing with Mia in the kitchen, throwing smart ass comments at a lurking Rowen. Nikki looked happy. She looked fiery. She barely resembled the ball of person next to him. Anger filled Cye, not necessarily directed at her, but getting sent that way in his growing frustration.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Cye snapped. He gestured towards the wall, forcing his eyes not to focus on the drawing. "And what the hell is wrong with her too? Or us? Damn it! What the hell happened, Nikki? What's going ON?" His last words came out as a roar and Nikki inadvertently flinched. Nikki pulled her knees tighter to her chest and looked away.

"What good will it do to know, Cye? How will it change anything?" Her voice was very quite and small, and it cooled Cye temper instantly. He tried his hardest to be understanding and patient, the way Ryo had been with Mia. Cye suddenly had the weirdest feeling that he shouldn't be here with her. It should have been someone else.

Cye reached forward and rested his hand on top of Nikki's wrist, squeezing slightly. "It won't change anything that's already happened, Nik," Cye said gently. "But it might make the difference in what comes next."

Nikki closed her eyes, sinking down inside herself. She couldn't bring herself to talk about it. But maybe, if Cye could remember something that he had used to know, then just maybe...

"Cye? Do you remember what you did when that stuff with Rowen happened and you got inside my head, talking to me?"

"Yeah," Cye said, seeming confused by the change in subject.

"Do you remember how you did that?"

"Not really," Cye admitted, "I just felt you slipping and I went in after you."

"...You used to be able to do something. You guys all could, but you and Sage were the best at it. It was called delving."

Cye sat quietly for a moment, and Nikki could tell the words she had said had sparked a memory in the young man. Delving. Out of all of the things these guys had been able to do, delving had been the scariest to her. The thought that someone could intrude into her innermost private memories and feelings without her consent had made her nervous. It was what Sage had done to Mia earlier in the cave. Rowen had done it to her once, to find out what was really going on with her and Cassie and Mia. Nikki had only barely managed to force him out before it was too late, before all their plans were ruined. Ryo had been furious when he'd found out. He'd called it mental rape. Rowen hadn't seemed all that sorry. Rowen could be brutal when he decided he was in the right.

"You always did bring out the worst in Rowen, Nikki," Cye said softly. Nikki looked up at him, pulled out of her thoughts. Cye looked slightly pale, but there was a determined expression on his face. He moved over so he was sitting closer to Nikki. His armor clanked and smelled of metal and sweat, yet she found that oddly comforting. Nikki wanted comfort right now, she was about to do something she really didn't want to do. But unlike Mia, Nikki wasn't still convinced they had been in the right and she had the scars to prove it. It was time someone else realized what had happened, and Nikki knew that the only other person she cared enough about besides Cye to let see it was the one person she could never show.

"Is it so bad, Nik?" Cye whispered. Nikki turned big sad eyes to him, and Cye tilted his head to the side. He looked at her. He looked _through _her.

"Don't kiss me when you do this the way Sage did to Mia," Nikki said, the intended sarcasm falling short and sounding weak. Cye nodded solemnly and leaned over, tugging Nikki closer to him. She allowed him to tuck her head against his armored shoulder. Cye's chin came down and rested on the top of her head. Nikki took a deep breath. Then Cye delved.

It was one thing when it was done against her will. It was another entirely when she willingly let Cye sink inside her emotions. The first had been violent when Rowen had forced himself inside her thoughts, a struggle to keep him away. This was like pulling on a second shirt and feeling the extra tightness all over, as if she didn't quite fit. There wasn't enough room for the both of them. Nikki felt more than heard Cye's amusement at her internal analogy, but he too seemed uncomfortable with the new sensations. Finally the tightness left Nikki's body, and she felt Cye's grunt of relief. Another analogy came to her mind at the experience, but Nikki tried her best not to think of it.

_Very funny Nikki,_ Cye thought sourly to her. _I'll try to be gentle_, he added sarcastically. Nikki just laughed to herself, shaking her head, and tried to look at Cye. Instead of seeing the man she knew was right next to her, everything went blurry and all she saw was spinning shapes. Nikki's stomach lurched unpleasantly.

_Close your eyes, _Cye suggested_. And please don't puke on me._

_I wasn't planning on it_, she replied mentally as she squeezed her eyes shut, still not used to this way of communicating.

_Me either_, Cye responded, not to what she'd said but what she'd felt.

_This is too weird,_ Nikki decided. Cye again seemed amused. Nikki wondered exactly what she was supposed to do next.

_Why don't you try focusing, Nik_, Cye said. _Think about what you wanted to show me. Think about back then._

Nikki went silent, and Cye felt a shift go over her mind. It was like a darkness sinking in, chilling him and making the hairs rise on the back of his neck. He could feel her fear, dripping like a leaky faucet, constant and unceasing. It was then that Cye realized that Nikki wasn't just afraid now. _She'd been afraid for years_. Cye pressed around her, trying to impress comfort and safety. Nikki brushed if off as is it was a speck of dust; he didn't even faze her. Cye pulled back and waited. This was her show; she was the one running it now. He felt her steel herself, take a deep breath, then the cloudiness he'd seen ever since delving darkened and solidified into something he could actually see, something he could watch. Her words were painful as she whispered,

_I was with Rowen the first time He took me…_

----------

_Rowen shifted next to her, one arm reaching out to pull her into him, his leg draped over hers, their ankles locked. His mixture of rock hard wiry muscles and long limbs made her feel like she was caught in a lanky metal cage. For once she didn't fight him when he trapped her in a cocoon of Strata, for once the closeness wasn't suffocating and frustrating. She pressed her back into him, feeling the rise and fall of his ribcage against her shoulder as he breathed. Her fingers found his and she slid her hand beneath his larger one. His arms immediately tightened around her. _

_"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" a deep voice rumbled against her ear. She remained silent, her mouth shut. The body next to her rolled over, pulling her beneath him, and dark blue eyes gazed down with thinly veiled concern._

_"You're different," Rowen murmured, adjusting so that his weight was on his arms and not her torso. "Something's upsetting you." _

_"I'm fine, Rowen," she whispered, trying to keep her voice level. "Please, can we just go back to sleep?"_

_"You haven't slept all night, Nik," Rowen pointed out. "Each time I think you're getting close, you tense up and burrow yourself as close to me as you can. You usually barely tolerate me holding you. You're hiding, which means you're scared. _What's wrong?_" _

_She shook her head and looked away. A strong hand rested lightly against her jaw, tenderly drawing her face back towards his. She clamped her mouth shut. Rowen let out a long deep sigh, shaking his head in experienced frustration. Then he leaned down and brushed his lips softly against hers. She remained stiff in his arms for a moment, but he started gently rubbing her arms and shoulder as he kissed her. She felt herself giving in, relaxing under his touch. She knew he was trying to wear her down, trying to make her pliable to his questions. She knew…but he was just so damn good at it. And she'd be lying if she said she didn't want to lose herself in his arms right now, to retreat into the safety of being his lover, to have that protection. She wrapped her arm around his neck, surprising him with her pliancy, and kissed him back more passionately than she ever had before. Rowen broke the kiss and looked down at her, intelligent eyes seeing through her, knowing something was off, but not understanding. She pulled him back down and forced him to concentrate on other things._

_Much later Rowen had collapsed spent against her. His head rested on her shoulder, blue hair falling boyishly across his face, a small smile of contentment on his mouth as he slept. One arm lay draped over her stomach with the rest of his body sprawled out across the bed. She lay awake, staring at the ceiling, trying to calm her racing heart._

_It was her turn now._

_Rowen let out a snort, the precursor to the crescendo of snores she knew would soon come. He grunted and rolled away from her, his broad back to her as he snored. She trailed her fingers down Rowen's shoulder blade, memorizing the curves of the strong muscles. She leaned forward and lightly kissed the center of his back. Then she froze as she felt the exact same motion being done to her. _He was there

_"Hello little one," purred a voice in her ear. She froze, icy cold washing through her limbs. In a moment of pure panic, she realized that she couldn't hold to this bargain, and she clutched at Rowen. A large strong hand grasped her wrists with inhuman speed. Pale fingers clamped over her mouth, muffling her scream effectively, pulling her naked and kicking from the bed. Damian held her up, fighting helplessly in his arms. _

_"He's asleep right now, sweeting. I could kill him if I chose. He would never know until it was over. _Deals can be broken_." His last words made her freeze and go still. Nikki stared at the sleeping man, a sick look on her face. They had decided to do this. It was the only option they had left. Mia and Cassie had come back alive. Damian wouldn't kill her. It wasn't any fun to actually kill her. Then he'd have to find a new toy to play with._

_He set her down on her feet, hand still clamped over her mouth. Rowen rolled back the other way, reaching for her. He muttered in his sleep, stirring restlessly. Maybe just maybe if he woke up, there would still be a chance to get out of this. Maybe Rowen could still save her…_

_A soft tearing noise broke the silence of the room. Nikki quivered in fear, tears welling up in her eyes. Rowen reached further for her across the bed. Sleepily he raised his head to see where she was, but Damian had already drawn her back through the rip between their worlds. Rowen's eyes snapped open. The tear had already closed._

_---------_

_Nikki? Nikki, are you okay? We can stop this if you need to. _

_I'm okay, Cye. Just…just don't leave me there alone. _

_Leave you where?_

_In that hell. In Damian's world…_

_But I thought that no one could pass through between the realms. That it took too much energy and he couldn't do it._

_He could do it…_

_How, Nikki?_

_Because we went willingly. We gave him the strength. That was the deal. _We helped him_…_

_----------_

_It had been cool in her room, enough that she would have buried herself under the blankets until her own warmth built up enough for sleep. But as soon as she set foot on the other side of the tear, a wave of heat hit her. The air had a thick metallic taste, and the inner scientist side of Nikki momentarily panicked at what her lungs might be inhaling. But then the hand gripping her yanked her sideways, and the tear that they had crossed through snapped shut like a slamming door, and Nikki stopped thinking about poisonous gases. She turned around, eyes growing wide as she looked at what surrounded her. _

_They were in a city, something so vast that even the born and bred city girl stared in shock. It stretched in every direction, as far as she could see, streets full of…not people. They were taller than people, slimmer and more beautiful. A dark haired figure walked past, eyes riveted on her. Nikki shivered as it stared. It ignored her body, there was no interest there; it was the completely black hatred that burned in its eyes that scared her. She spun around to flee and ran into a body. She looked up Damian's true face…_

_SNAP!_

_Nikki looked up to find she was alone in a room. It was round and plain, the dark stone giving it a dreary cast. A few small torches lit the room dimly. Nikki looked down and realized that she was wearing a long dark robe, it's soft folds brushing her bare feet. A small carpet in the center of the room was the only decoration, and Nikki slowly moved to it. Having no idea as to what would happen next, she knelt down on the carpet and…_

_SNAP!_

_He was back. A door to the room opened directly in front of her, causing her head to jerk up. He stood there, looking down at her with an amused expression on his handsome face. Before when he had looked at her in her world, all she had seen was the dark essence that made him, the demonic interior. But now to see that part of him encased in this body was even more terrifying. It was like putting a face to the devil. Nikki shook as he motioned for her to rise and follow him. Damian strode from the room, his guards flanking him. He led her down different corridors, twisting and turning until she had lost all sense of direction. Finally they reached a set of large glistening doors, encased in a stone that looked like marble. Four guards walked forward and gave the door a huge heave. With a boom they fell slowly open. Damian looked back over his shoulder and grinned evilly._

_"Your place is fine, sweeting," he purred. "But now, welcome to _my_ home." Damian strode out onto a huge balcony set high above the city, cloak swirling. Far in the distance two huge volcanoes smoked and spat molten rock into the fiery sky. Damian reached the railing and spread out his hands. The resulting roar almost knocked Nikki off of her feet. Staggering, she stepped forward several feet, enough to make her gasp at what she saw. Below her stretched the people of this land, lined up in rows upon rows upon rows. They roared and screamed, hundreds of thousands of voices rising to Damian's obvious delight. He turned and looked at her pale face, mouth twisted into a smirk. _

_"They're waiting for their queen," he said, gesturing at the crowd behind him. His smile widened as he added, "They say she will lead them to a great victory one of these days. Maybe they are right. The queen is…beautiful in her viciousness. They crave blood and she gives it too them. Me, I find my amusement in other more practical ways. If we kill everyone, there's no one to play with anymore."_

_Another roar ripped through the crowd, this more angry and violent. Damian's eyes narrowed as he looked at her._

_"But as my people grow weary of waiting for my Queen, it is my duty as her servant to keep them occupied." Damian strode up to her and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her off her feet. Nikki tried to scream but her voice was muffled as he tightened his grip. _

_"Now now, little one," he whispered in her ear as he carried her kicking and clawing at his arm to the balcony. "It'll all be okay. You're only serving the greater good, you know." The roar below her became deafening as Damian thrust her out over the balcony. Nikki widened her eyes in horror as her feet dangled helplessly over the bloodthirsty crowd. His hot breath touched her ear as he leaned closer and began singing softly._

_"One, two…they're all looking at you."_

_He clamped down on her neck tighter, fingernails drawing blood. Nikki started turning blue._

_"Three, four…make them roar." Damian tossed her up, causing the crowd to scream as he re-gripped her shoulder. Nikki gasped and tried to grab back onto the balcony. Damian pushed her out further so her hands touched nothing._

_"Five, six…just a couple of nicks." He nipped at her neck, biting hard enough that blood came from the cut. As if even from this distance the crowd could smell it, the gathering below roared in pleasure at the violence. _

_"No, please!" Nikki whispered. Damian leaned over and kissed her torn neck tenderly._

_"Seven, eight…"_

_"Damian…you promised you wouldn't hurt us…" Nikki cried. _

_"No sweeting. I promised I wouldn't kill you. I never said anything about them." With that, rhyme unfinished, he let her go. Nikki shrieked as she fell, kicking and flailing towards the crowds below. If the fall didn't kill her, though it likely would, she knew that they would rip her apart. For the first time in her life, Nikki prayed. She actually saw the eyes of the front one creature as she fell right in front of it. It's hands were reaching out towards her. _

Mia, this wasn't part of the deal_, Nikki thought bitterly. Then she hit._

_SNAP!_

_"Nine ten…do it again."_

_SNAP!_

_The tear snapped shut behind her. Nikki stumbled forward, almost tripping and falling flat on her face. Her knees hit the bed, and she grabbed onto the bunched up covers for support. Rowen's eyes had just snapped open, and he looked startled and confused, as if he had thought he'd seen something that wasn't there. He sat up and looked suspiciously at her. She was gasping as if she had just run very hard for a really long time. Nikki stared around the room as if trying to make sure she was really there and wasn't being ripped apart by a vicious crowd. _

_"Nikki? What…? What are you doing out of bed?" Rowen rubbed his eyes and looked around the room, disgruntled. It was as if the blue haired man knew that something very important had just happened, but wasn't sure what it was or why. "What time is it, Nik?" _

_"Late," she managed to croak out, aware that she was still naked. She reached for the blankets and pulled them up to cover her and any wounds that might show, feeling more dirty than she ever had in her life. "Rowen, please leave me alone tonight, okay? Please?"_

_Rowen stared at her as if she was insane._

_"Nikki, it's the middle of the night! What the hell is wrong with you---?"_

_"GET OUT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Rowen actually jumped at the sound. Then without a word he furiously leapt out of bed and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him with a thunderous crack. The silence afterwards was deafening, only broken by the slam of another door down the hall. She collapsed on top of the bed, rolling up into a ball, clutching Rowen's pillow to her chest. She didn't stop shaking until well after the morning sun flooded her room with light._

_------------_

_…Cye?_

_I'm still here._

_Can we stop now?_

_Is there more?_

_Just more of the same. Each time he took me there I thought I was going to die. I knew he wouldn't kill me, but each time he made me sure that this time he would. I'd think I was dead, but I always just ended up back in my room, crying hysterically. He wouldn't let it end that easily, I guess._

_How many times did he take you there, Nikki?_

_Does it matter?_

_Yes._

_….Twenty three. _

_Oh my god. Cassie and Mia too?_

_I don't know. We never talked about it. We never…sometimes if you don't talk about something you can pretend it never happened._

_But it did happen, Nikki. What about what they must have done to you girls? You said it takes away your energy. What does that do to you?_

_Look at Mia. There's your answer, Cye._

_…… _

_Can we please go back now, Cye?_

_…Yes._

_-----------_

"Fuck!"

Kento beat his fists against the wall furiously, trying to use Hardrock to force his way back to where they'd been separated. Ryo wasn't much better, striking his swords uselessly at the smooth stone, the scraping noises making Rowen wince.

"You guys, I think we need to try to find another option," Rowen suggested mildly. "That doesn't seem to be working."

"We need a plan," Sage added. Rowen just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes at his best friend.

"Yes. A plan. We need one." He coughed pointedly, until Ryo finally stopped attacking the wall.

"What do you have in mind?" Ryo asked, looking royally pissed off. He did not appreciate the fact that half of the people he took responsibility for were missing and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Well, we already know what's on this side of the corridor. Why don't we try the other side? I mean, it couldn't be any worse than this, could it?" As the words left his mouth, the sounds of marching feet began echoing down towards them, growing louder by the second. Sage looked over at Rowen and did roll his eyes.

"You had to say that, didn't you?" Sage muttered. Rowen just shrugged apologetically. Already armed and aching for a fight, Ryo stepped forward and slid into a fighting stance. Behind him Kento was still banging uselessly against the rock.

"Kento! Leave it! We've got other problems right now," Rowen said, reaching for an arrow and bringing it to his bow. Kento leveled a furious look at him.

"They could be hurt or worse, Rowen," Kento snarled. "You don't seem to give a shit. Cye, Mia, and Nikki could be dead over there."

"They're okay. We'd know if we lost Cye, and I know for a fact that Nikki's fine." Rowen pulled his arrow tight against his cheek and took aim. The sounds of marching had grown into a loud crescendo, covering Rowen's added words. "I would know where she was with closed eyes. I just couldn't tell you why."

Finally Kento gave up and spun, brandishing his weapon angrily. Just then the sounds of marching feet stopped. They waited, muscles tight as they watched for the enemy to come bursting out of the darkness. They waited. And waited. Finally with a roar of fury Kento sprang forward into the darkness beyond the range of the torches.

"Kento! Stop!" Ryo yelled, but the Ronin of Hardrock was gone. Having no other choice the others plunged in after him, Sage's sword throwing extra light into the hall. They found him in the middle if the hall a hundred feet down, kneeling in front of a spear that had been thrust into the ground. There was no sign anyone else had ever been there.

"What is it, Kento?" Ryo demanded, moving to his side. Kento's face was bleak and he gripped something tightly in his fist. Ryo reached over him and yanked the spear out of the ground. Impaled between the dirt and the blade was a small piece of paper that fluttered up as soon as Ryo lifted the weapon. Sage grabbed it and snarled.

"It's an invitation," Sage said, answering Ryo's questioning look. "From Damian. He wants us to join him at the 'second seal'."

"You say it like it's in quotations," Rowen murmured. Sage handed the note to him.

"It is. 'Second seal.'" Sage stood and walked away. Rowen pursed his lips thoughtfully, only to be brought back by the slight note of panic in his leader's voice.

"Kento? What is that you're holding?" Rowen looked down at the small clump of red strands that Kento gripped tightly in his fist.

"His insurance policy."

The Ronin of Hardrock stood, his face more dangerous than any of them could ever remember seeing it. He tucked the severed chunk of Mia's hair beneath his breastplate and took the spear away from Ryo. Kento gripped the spear and very methodically broke it in half with his hands.

_There was blood everywhere…_

"Kento?" Sage asked, suddenly and inexplicably alarmed about his friend. "Are you okay?"

"I told him if he ever touched her again I would kill him," Kento murmured to himself, tucking the sharp end of the spear under his arm. Eyes cold, Hardrock turned and marched down the hall, away from the protection of his team. There was nothing else they could do. Grimacing, the other three followed him into the depths of this underground hellhole.


	17. Chapter 15

A/N There are no flashbacks in this chapter, so keep that in mind as you are reading. That's the only hint I'll give. I don't own Ronin Warriors and constructive criticism is welcome.

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter Fifteen

Mia had never been the type of girl that was able to hide her feelings. Her face had been an open book to the few that knew her and a movie screen to those who knew her well. She lost at poker every hand and she couldn't tell a lie if her life depended on it. But that was the difference. It wasn't her life that depended on this lie, it was someone else's. Several someone else's actually. And when push came to shove involving those she cared about, Mia could deal a nasty hand of cards with the best of them.

It had been a near miss, what they had done. They had taken a risk much greater than even they had realized, and when it was done only barely could they say that they had come out on top. Barely. Cassie was still dead, wasn't she?

Mia could still see the blood when she closed her eyes. She would lie awake at night and stare at her ceiling in a hopeless effort to keep her mind clear. She had even tried to use some of the meditation techniques that Sage had taught her. But even if she was able clear her mind momentarily, the images and sounds and tastes always came back. The devil might not be the only thing emerging from the dark, but it certainly had made its place in her soul. The devil that she had betrayed everything to.

It made her sick.

Up until now Mia had always maintained that they had made the right decisions. Not even Cassie would have said otherwise. They knew what might happen. They knew…but to protect the others it had been worth it. Kayura's words still rang in her ears, Kayura's warnings about the future of the world without the protection of the Ronin Warriors, Kayura's plead to help her find a way to get rid of _him_. They had too, and it had been worth it. That is until now. Now as Mia stared up at the creature lounging indolently on the throne in front of her, tapping its long fingertips against the carved stone, its eyes never leaving hers for a second, she was finally believing otherwise.

Nikki was right. They were fucked.

Damian shifted and let his eyes drift down her body, taking her in like a piece of meat. He wasn't looking at her as if he wanted to devour her, just chop her into little pieces. Mia inwardly shivered but held her body at rest where she knelt before the dais. He would not kill her. Not yet. There were other things to be done and others to make do them. But he _would_ get around to it eventually, of that Mia was certain.

From his vantage point above her Damian grinned that too-wide grin, letting her know that for this time at least, she was right.

Rowen was starting to feel claustrophobic. It seemed like with each step the corridors narrowed a barely perceptible bit, and that the ceiling was just a touch closer to his head. For a man in love with the vast openness of the night sky, the feeling was a little…confining. So to try to keep his mind off of that and the plain creepiness of their passage, Rowen decided to play a game.

"Okay Sage," Rowen tried for the third time. "Work with me here. I spy with my little eye something that's…grey."

Sage rolled his eyes at his best friend, saying, "That wouldn't happen to be the stone would it Rowen? Being different then when you saw rock and slate?"

Rowen managed to look a bit hurt.

"How about something that's tired of hearing Rowen talk?" Kento muttered sourly, earning a glare from Strata and a concerned look from Halo. Kento ignored Rowen's look and stalked on, the muscles underneath his armor obviously bunched up by the way the warrior held himself. Every once in a while he would flip the broken off spear end in his hand, handling it as deftly as Sage would have nunchuks. It reminded the group that Kento was just as trained as any of them, and as able to do damage. That and he looked like he really wanted to do some damage right now.

"Easy Kento," Sage murmured. "We're not going to help ourselves if we start fighting again. You know Rowen hates being enclosed and it makes him irritating. You get the same way on airplanes high above the ground, so cut him some slack."

Kento just grunted. Ryo seemed oblivious to the conversation surrounding him, intent on studying their surroundings, not that they had changed much.

"Do you guys have any idea how long these halls go?" Ryo asked, trailing his hand across the stone. "I didn't think this building was this long."

"Don't forget this guy likes to play with illusions, Ryo," Rowen warned seriously. "We might end up just going in circles."

"Why don't we just blast our way through?" Kento grumped. The others looked at him. Rash or not, the idea had merit and was better than wandering around aimlessly. Even Sage shrugged, not really against it.

"It couldn't be much worse than what we've done so far," Sage admitted. "I think Rowen's right about us moving in circles. Don't look so smug. You might be wrong," he added after seeing Rowen's face. They all stood there for a moment, looking at each other. Finally Ryo nodded at Kento.

"You have the most control in these kind of places, Kento," Ryo said firmly. "The rest of us would have a greater risk of bringing the place down on us." Kento grinned tightly, obviously pleased that he would get to do something proactive. He stepped away from the others, waiting until they had backed up a distance. Kento narrowed his eyes, and from behind him the group began to feel pressure build up around them. It felt like the air itself was squeezing in tighter, and Rowen's expression was pained. The pressure built heavier and heavier, making the Ronins shift uncomfortably. The walls rumbled and groaned, and the ground beneath their feet started shaking.

"Kento!" Sage snapped out as he reached to grab onto Rowen for balance, "Don't destroy this place!" Ryo staggered as the corridor seemed to tilt to the left, then back to the right. The pressure forcing down on every inch of their armor had reached the point of physical pain.

"Kento!" Ryo echoed Sage, worry filling his voice. In front of them, Hardrock opened his arms, then brought them down sharply. The air suddenly thrust away from them in one huge swoosh, slamming into the corridor walls. Heavy chunks of rock burst in every direction, causing the Ronins to hit the ground to avoid being struck. Everything shook and rumbled and roared as debris thumped down on armored backs and heads. Finally the shaking stopped.

Slowly the Ronins stood up, lurching a little as they did. Rowen's face was decidedly queasy. Thick dust filled the air, but as it settled they found that the corridor walls still held firm. Thick cracks run up and down the now chunked out stone, but they seemed as heavy and solid as ever.

"Damn, Kento!" Rowen said, spitting dirt out of his mouth. "Subtlety just isn't your strong point, is it. Ugh, I think I'm going to puke." Rowen spat again and glared at the Ronin of Hardrock. Kento had turned around and had a slightly confused expression on his face.

"I don't understand," Kento said, scratching his neck idly. "I threw everything I had at those things and it didn't budge. But it should've."

"When did you start using air in your attacks?" Ryo asked him. Kento shrugged.

"I didn't. That came from the surroundings. They didn't want to change the shape they were in, and they fought me over it causing a pressure build up. Finally they gave in, and that should have torn out a clear path to either side of us. Instead all I got was a few rocks falling down."

"Oh, is that all?" Rowen asked in an acidic tone. Kento ignored him completely, eyes scanning the walls.

"Kento?" Sage asked in that soft controlled tone he always got when he was figuring out something very complicated. "Why did you say 'should have'?"

Kento looked at Sage, and they could see his mind turning over the question as well.

"Well, as far as I can tell, this place is normal. As normal as any freaky city under a mountain can be, but still…It should follow the same rules as everything else. I tell the earth to crack, it cracks. But this earth is fighting itself and me. It was angry I even tried. I don't understand that. It's like fire telling Ryo 'no'." Kento looked even more confused.

A funny expression had come to Sage's face, almost as if he was embarrassed about something.

"Kento? Can I ask you something else?" Sage looked at Kento. Hardrock nodded, curious. "Does…does the earth guide you? I can't believe I never thought to ask you before, but does it…talk to you?"

A small smile came to Kento's face and he looked fondly at the dirt underneath his feet. "Yeah, Sage. It does. Sometimes it helps me know what I should do when I use it. But it's not like I could've said, hey guys I talk to dirt, you know? I have a reputation to maintain." Ryo smiled despite himself at that.

"Then if the earth was telling you that we can't go through the walls, what do you think that means?" Sage asked. Kento just shook his head, not knowing. Ryo looked around, eyes narrowed. But it was Rowen that finally figured it out.

"Umm, guys?" he said, toeing the dirt beneath his feet. "The earth didn't want us going through it, but it never said anything about underneath it." Eyes widened, then Kento reached over his back and swung his weapon down to smash into the ground in front of him. The result was instantaneous. A tremendous crack sounded and then the floor fell out from beneath their feet, causing all four men to crash down through the hole. Sage was able to take one startled breath before he slammed down face first into something much too hard. For a moment he lay there dazed.

"Bad idea, Kento," Sage finally snarled, "Really bad idea." He rolled over to find his friends but couldn't see them in the hazy fog that was creeping up around him. Everything else was dark.

"Hey guys!" Sage called out. "Where are you? I can't see a thing in all this."

No one answered. Sage started to get a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He watched as tendrils of thick haze wound their way up his arms to lightly brush his face. After that, thing's became…confusing.

------

There was a moment of darkness, then the temperature became very cold.

Sage stood deathly still, letting the snowflakes settle against his long lashes. He knew this place, it was where he and Mia had faced Cale. Only this time it was different, he knew it in his bones. For the woman dangling inside the freezing cold waterfall was not Mia, but Cassie. Sage's heart missed a beat, yet he still didn't move.

Cassie was bound with her arms behind her back, her long blonde hair plastered to her head as icy water rushed over her. He could hear her gasping and sputtering. He knew this wasn't right, that it hadn't happened like this, and that he should not fall for the trap.

But Cassie…

She was trying to be brave but the blind girl had started crying softly, panic overriding her natural strength as water continued to plug her nostrils and fill her mouth. Sage shuddered, trying to force himself back. It was a trap, this wasn't Cassie. It wasn't her. He knew it but…Sage held frozen in indecision until her sweet voice weakly cried out his name, her words laced with fear. She was dying. He couldn't…he had to…there was no other choice!

With a snarl Sage leapt into the waterfall, catching Cassie's slim body in his left arm even as Halo's sword severed the cord that bound her. His momentum took them all the way to the rocky ledge and he twisted so that he hit shoulder first. Sage grunted in pain at the jolt but locked his arms protectively around the girl as they skidded to a stop. He sat up and held her shaking body to his, casting around for the attack he knew would come. Sage waited and waited. Nothing happened.

Sage kept one eye on their surroundings while letting the other slip down to Cassie. The blind girl had stopped coughing up water but was shivering violently and had locked on to Sage's arm.

"You're okay, Cass," Sage whispered, rocking her closer even as he scanned the area. He didn't understand why the attack hadn't come.

"Sage," Cassie whispered, her voice weak and shaken. Sage rested his chin on her half frozen hair, gripping his sword.

"I'm here baby."

"Sage…" Cassie repeated. Finally he looked down at her, her beautiful blue eyes staring unseeing past his shoulder. Sage couldn't help himself and brushed a light kiss across her temple, cradling her gently despite his death-grip around her.

"Yes, Cass? What is it?" Cassie touched his face and turned hers up in his direction, chattering lips seeking his. Unable to deny her, Sage lowered his mouth to hers even as she whispered,

"Sage, _look_ at me."

He went cold.

Suddenly those beautiful blind blue eyes could see right through him, and they glittered darkly as she yanked his head down into the kiss. Sage jerked away, pushing at the thing that he knew wasn't Cassie. She laughed deep in her throat and looked behind his shoulder. That was all the warning Sage got before something struck him heavily in the back of the head and the world went black.

------

Rowen sat quietly trying to decide if he should say something. Nikki remained on the other side of the room, her brown eyes glazed over as she stared at nothing. She had been like this more and more lately and it worried him. It seemed like every day a little piece of her slipped out of his reach. Not that Rowen had any delusions about them…well not too many anyway. He just hated to see her like this, lethargic and dazed. He'd rather face her scathing tongue any day of the week than this silence. Whatever it was that Rowen and Nikki had between them, silence wasn't it.

Nikki hadn't been sleeping well, he could tell, even though she had left his bed and forced him out of hers long ago. There were dark circles under her eyes that grew darker by the day. She would occasionally drift off when they were all together, but she would always wake quickly with a start, panic in her eyes. He didn't blame her for being scared. Each battle took its toll on all of them, even the girls. The Ronins had always fought in spurts; even the crusades against Talpa measured in days. This fight had stretched out for months. Rowen's mind was weary and his body was exhausted. He had drawn his bow so many times that heavy calluses had split, re-grown and ripped open again. He had lost weight; they all had. It wasn't that they weren't eating, but they spent so much of their time running and fighting and worrying that what they did consume vanished as if it had never been there.

Their main problems weren't physical, however. They were strained to the limit emotionally and mentally. Each time they faced off with Damian he seemed to grow stronger, to be able to identify weakness even they didn't know they had and use them against the warriors. He wasn't just content to battle them and beat them, he insisted on taunting them and confusing them, twisting reality and illusion, truth and lies, until everything had become so tangled they didn't know what to believe anymore. Rowen struggled within himself, trying to believe that they were still okay. That they were close to finding the key to defeat this enemy. But each time his comrades stumbled underneath the weight of their burden, every head that bowed and shoulder that slumped took sliced at his confidence in them and himself. He tried to believe, god how he tried. But Damian was wearing them down…

Nikki brought her knees up to her chest and she looked out the window. Once more Rowen wondered if he should say something but he just didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure there were any comforting words left in him. All he knew was that she couldn't go away, where Damian could follow without their protection. If Rowen knew with any certainty she'd be safe, he'd have put her on a plane months ago. Nikki didn't want the comfort of his arms anymore or even just one more embrace, so there wasn't much else Rowen could offer her.

Dark hair fell over one shoulder as she turned her head to look at him. Brown eyes caught his, and once more it struck Rowen how much Nikki had changed. A fire that had burned so bright was dimming.

"You can't beat him Rowen," Nikki whispered. Rowen frowned and looked over her shoulder.

"Don't talk like that, Nikki. You don't know that for certain. We hurt him today." Rowen wasn't sure of he was trying to reassure her or himself. It cut deeper than it should have when Nikki laughed coldly.

"You don't get it, Rowen. You can't beat him. You can't. We made sure of that." Those brown eyes were bitter and self-mocking, making Rowen's heart jump up into his chest. Softly he whispered to her.

"Nikki? What do you mean?" She just closed her eyes and shook her head, face twisted harshly. Rowen stood and moved to her, kneeling down in front of her. He laid his hand on her knee, their first contact in over two weeks.

"Nikki? _What did you do?_" Rowen whispered, a sick feeling twisting his guts and making him shiver despite the warmth of the room. When she opened her eyes and looked directly at him, Rowen realized that he had missed something very very important. They all had.

Nikki reached forward and placed her hand over Rowen's heart, leaning over until her words brushed his ear as she spoke.

"We…told…him…_everything_."

Rowen stared at her, opening his mouth to reply when something came crashing through the window. He instinctively rolled, pulling Nikki underneath him as glass shards slammed down on his back and shoulders. As soon as the last tinkle of broken glass rang out, Rowen rose up on his elbows and looked at what had smashed through the window. Four feet away from him, bleeding from gashes on her arms and face, lay Nikki. Her eyes were wild and with a cry she reached for him, trying to crawl towards him.

Rowen went cold.

Long fingers with sharp nails gripped Rowen's jaw and forced his head back down. Glittering black eyes smiled insanely up at him, but all Rowen saw before everything went black was the teeth.

------

Up to his elbows in hot soapy water with sweat beading on his neck and rolling slowly down between his shoulder blades, a muscled young man in a white tee-shirt scrubbed vigorously at a dirty saucepan. Kento was frustrated. Hell, he'd been frustrated for a long time now. His entire life had always been one step forward and three steps back, watching while everyone else zoomed past him on the road of life.

Kento's worries centered around one key issue: that he wasn't smart enough. It wasn't that he believed he wasn't smart; any of his friends would attest to the fact that he never had been the blockheaded beefcake he looked. But there was a fine line between being smart and being smart enough to get what you wanted out of life. Kento knew he could run a business. He knew that he could have a restaurant that served great food and had a friendly desirable atmosphere. He'd been watching his parents do it his entire life. But was he smart enough to pull it off on his own without being in over his head? Kento really didn't know.

The problem was that Kento had reached and passed that age where you were supposed to go out on your own and make something of yourself. Not that his parents minded the extra help around the restaurant. His mother would die a happy woman if her eldest never left the nest. But that wasn't what Kento wanted for his life. He didn't want to depend on his parents for his livelihood, he wanted to be his own man. He couldn't imagine taking his future wife home to his upstairs bedroom every night, with the sounds of his siblings running down the hall. He couldn't imagine the embarrassment of asking his parents for his salary so he could take his wife out to dinner. Kento figured he had two options. He could either breakout on his own and risk failure, along with every extra bit of money he had saved up over the years, or he could take the safe route and kiss his personal life goodbye forever. Both options were equally distressing.

Despite his preoccupied musings, Kento was still able to hear the light tapping at the restaurant's front door. Kento dried his hands off on a towel and stuffed it into his back pocket, running one hand through his messy dark hair as he made his way to the front door. The figure that he saw through the glass made him grin. He turned the lock and opened the door, holding it open with a foot.

"About time you showed up here, buddy. I thought you'd leave me cleaning dishes all night," Kento joked. Cye grinned and stepped through the door, shoving his hands deeper into his jacket pockets.

"I know how you like dirt, Kento," Cye quipped back, "I just thought I'd give you a chance to enjoy yourself before we went out." Kento chuckled as he let the door shut, following his friend back into the darkened restaurant.

"Give me a sec to clean up," Kento said as he walked past Cye, pulling off his shirt and tossing it over his shoulder. He disappeared into the back, then reemerged in a clean shirt with slightly damp hair. Cye chuckled quietly as Kento turned off the last remaining lights.

"It's kind of funny how different we all are," Cye remarked. "Sage and I spend forever getting cleaned up, but you just stick your head under a faucet and you're ready to go." Kento arched an eyebrow at Torrent.

"Maybe there's a reason you guys spend so much time in the bathroom primping," Kento said mock-suggestively. Cye laughed then thumped Kento on the back of his head, following him outside and watching him lock the door behind hem.

"Shut up! I like girls as much as you do buddy. And unlike you I actually take them out every once in a while." Cye smirked at his friend. Kento just grunted and stuck his hands into his pockets, matching strides with Cye.

"Why is that, Kento?" Cye asked curiously. "I've been meaning to bring it up. Ever since high school ended you seem to be doing nothing but work. You don't ever take time to relax unless it's with us. Why don't you go on a date or two? Have a little fun?"

"It's hard to have fun without any money, Cye. Most girls don't like dates that center around eating at your parent's place for free. There's only so many walks in the park before they start catching on." Kento kept his eyes on the street ahead of him and away from Cye's piercing gaze.

"Not all girls care about money," Cye said quietly. "There's more to some of them than that."

"It's not about them," Kento muttered under his breath. "It's about me. I'm not approaching someone with nothing to give."

Cye just gave his friend a knowing look and let the subject drop. They walked down the sidewalk, quiet but comfortable in the silence. Some friendships were like that. The passing cars kicked up droplets of water from that morning's rainfall, but neither man seemed too concerned about getting wet. They were almost to the movie theatre when something in a store window caught Kento's eye. He paused and gazed at it thoughtfully. Cye could see the wheels turning in his friend's mind and the wishful look on his face. Kento weighed out the cost in his head, knowing that it would be ridiculous. Yet the longer he looked in the window the more he wanted what he saw. He was about to say so to Cye when a feeling hit him. He looked at his friend's reflection in the window, his eyes meeting Cye's. Kento went cold as understanding dawned.

"Cye," Kento whispered softly, "I didn't buy this with you here. No one knew I bought this." Cye looked at him in surprise, his eyes widening as Kento turned his head around.

Neither one of them saw the truck that slammed into them.

The impact of it threw Kento deep into the store as the truck smashed through glass and wood. Fuzzily he realized that he was lying on his back, staring up at overly bright fluorescent lighting. With cold detachment he realized that he couldn't move. Someone was screaming near him, and the link that had always seemed to exist between him and Cye was gone. Cye was gone from him. It was with quiet regret that Kento realized he would never have that chance to choose his own path, and that the man he was today would have to be enough. Ironically the item that had caught his eye had been thrown with him, landing just out of his reach.

_Figures_, Kento thought to himself as everything dimmed to black.

------

Rowen had blood running down his neck from a huge gash in his throat. Mia had fought the urge to turn and retch when she'd realized that a chunk of flesh had been torn away. Crimson pooled on the ground at his feet and Mia feared that he was bleeding too heavily. Even a Ronin Warrior could only go through so much. Off to her left Sage was still unconscious, his skin so sickly pale it was translucent. Only tiny bits of dried blood matted his now dirty blonde hair, but she could guess at the kind of blow to the head it would have taken to keep Sage out this long. He had always been the quickest to heal. Yet when Damian appeared once more, winking at her as he drug Kento behind him by one armored foot, Mia turned away. She couldn't watch this anymore.

"You're sick," Mia softly spoke to her capturer, the chains that bound her wrists to the floor jingling behind a voice full of scorn. "It wasn't enough to take them all like this; you had to leave your mark on them too. What you did to Rowen was disgusting."

Damian didn't answer her; instead he contented himself with humming softly as he strung up Kento upside down by his heels, using heavier metal chains to bind him to the wall near Rowen.

"You're missing a couple, demon," Mia said mockingly. Damian turned and moved towards her, the edges of his body rippling and he passed a certain spot on the floor. Mia's breath caught in her throat, but she had to focus on the creature that had squatted down on its heels in front of her. He leaned forward until his nose almost touched hers. Inside she screamed at the proximity but outwardly Mia remained calm.

"Are you bored?" Damian asked her, chuckling. He reached out one long finger to lightly scratch her cheek, causing her to inadvertently flinch. "Would you like to participate in the fun? I'd hate for you to think of me as a poor host."

Mia just glared at him, trying to not look too deep into the glittering black eyes. There were things there she definitely didn't want to see. Mia shook her head no, but Damian seemed to have made up his mind already. With a click the lock on her wrists fell open and he rose, gripping her hair firmly and yanking her forcibly up to her feet. He loomed over her, staring down. Mia spat in his face, only to have him jerk her closer to him, grinning. His countenance shifted, even though Mia knew it was only an illusion, changing his face and eyes into something more beautiful and horrible than his essence could ever be. Mia turned her face away.

"Come now, you don't want to finish what we've started?" Damian murmured against her neck. Mia flinched again, a tremor rippling through her body. He just laughed, the sound echoing about them as he drug her kicking and fighting past the unconscious Ronins and out of the room.

------

The fire raged.

A young man moved around it, letting the heat soak into him as he fed the bonfire larger pieces of brush. In the distance the sun had almost set, and the night sky had begun twinkling. Being someone who was forced to spend much of his time in the city, normally he would've stared at the stars for hours, enjoying the lack of light pollution. Normally he would have breathed in the crisp air and shivered as the darkness settled around him, and he would have reflected on what that day's work had meant to him and done for him. Not tonight. Tonight Ryo was building a fire and everything else was inconsequential.

His heavy boots crunched the twigs underneath his feet as he paced uneasily around the growing flame. The heat was growing more intense by the moment and tendrils leapt out to caress Ryo's arms and legs. Fire was drawn to him, even as he was drawn to it. The stiff fabric of his jeans protected legs that would not have been injured anyway, and where his thick flannel shirt left off and toughened hands were revealed, the skin was cool.

The fire raged and inside himself, Ryo raged with it. There were things out in the darkness, things that should never have been there, things that the creature had brought with him when he entered Ryo's precious world. Wildfire could feel their presence as easily as he felt the pull of his friends' armors. Not too far away Rowen and Sage were conversing with Cye, trying to come up with a plan. Further out, Kento was doing sweeps around the small clearing. Occasionally Ryo would feel a surge through his armor, and he knew that Kento had dispatched of one more of the…things. Kento was the best at it. Something about the element of earth frightened them and made his attacks more deadly. But Kento could do sweeps all day and night long, and still they kept coming. It was a price Ryo's friends paid for being out in the open, and the fact that they were driven from the place Ryo had come to call his home filled Ryo with a white-hot fury.

The girls were huddled together between the fire and the Ronins, in the safest place they could be. The reason that they only sent one Ronin at a time out to do sweeps was because the attacks seemed to center around the girls. It amused the enemy to hurt them, but it seemed to amuse him even more to make them watch the girls get hurt. If Ryo hadn't already been furious, the thought would have sent him into a rage. Ryo shoved another branch into the fire, causing sparks to jump up, hissing and crackling. This was their second line of defense. While Damian wasn't affected at all by the fire, the creatures prowling around steered clear of it. As if sensing its importance, the flame burst up higher, flicking out lick Ryo's face and reflecting in his eyes. The eyes burned brighter than the flames.

A quiet cough came from behind him, and Ryo turned around. Mia was standing there, looking at him with concern in her eyes. She glanced at the growing char marks on his clothes and lifted her hand, as if to reach out and pull him away from the fire. Then she let her hand drop back down again.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Mia said softly, a trace of embarrassment on her face. "I…I kind of felt weird asking the other guys to go with me, and you told us not to go anywhere by ourselves." Ryo nodded, leaning down to pull out a flaming ember.

"Yeah, no problem, Mia," Ryo said, trying to sound nonchalant. He didn't want to embarrass her any more than she was, although he knew she wouldn't like it that he wasn't going to let her out of his sight once out of the relative safety of the camp.

Ryo motioned to Sage that he would be right back, and lightly took Mia's arm, guiding her into the surrounding darkness. How quick the light from the fire faded, and the burning ember in Ryo's hand seemed scant protection in the face of what they both knew was out here. Ryo could be in his subarmor in a second if he had to be, but that didn't keep him from being extremely cautious.

To break up the uncomfortable silence as Mia headed behind a tree, the red haired woman started talking half to him and half to herself.

"You know, they never talk about this part in the movies. The good guys never have to pee when it's an inopportune time," Mia mumbled. Ryo smiled slightly, making sure he could still see the glint of her hair. He meant it. Not out of his sight, not even for privacy.

"They never deal with the whole food thing either," Ryo added, feeling his stomach rumble. It had been awhile since they had eaten. Ryo thought that the armor was helping him keep his strength longer despite the lack of sustenance. The girls were starting to show signs of going too long without food, and Ryo knew that pretty soon here they would have to break down and risk going back to try to get to town. Thus far no one wanted to take that chance…too many things could go wrong. But Ryo would be damned if he let any of them get sick or hurt because of this. If he had to, he would go for food himself.

"There's nothing we can do about that right now, Ryo," Mia soft reasonable voice said from behind the tree. "If you guys lead the creatures back into town, then there's no telling how many people are going to get hurt. This way we're keeping them contained and focused on us. We have to."

Ryo grunted, scanning the darkness. He knew what she said was true, but there were more things to being a leader than she realized. He would eventually have to pick them versus the rest of the people he protected, and Ryo wasn't sure he was capable of sacrificing someone he loved for the greater good. The other Ronins had made a pact to do what they had to, to themselves and each other, to win this battle. But to Ryo the girls were victims of this fight, caught between things that they weren't really involved in. He would protect them. _He would_.

Mia stepped out from behind the tree, adjusting her shirt. She smiled at Ryo gently, then to his surprise seemed to flicker momentarily. Something slammed into her from the side and she went down with a cry. Roaring, Ryo sprang forward and thrust the burning branch directly into the back of the thing on top of Mia, grabbing onto it and trying to tear it off of her. The creature slid right through his grasp and went back to clawing at the girl underneath it. Mia was yelling his name, sounding terrified, and Ryo instinctively called his armor.

Knowing that it had a dangerous adversary at its back, the creature spun around and faced Ryo, its ugly face twisted into a grinning snarl.

"Ryo! Don't!" Mia shrieked, just as Wildfire launched himself at the creature. It met him halfway through the air, clawing and ripping at his armor. Ryo sliced at it with his sword, but the sharp blade barely pierced the thick skin. The creature leapt away, backing up so that there was space between it and the swords. Ryo sidestepped, eyes trained on the creatures, trying to predict its next move. Mia had struggled to a kneeling position, blood running down her face, and she looked at Ryo in desperation.

"Ryo! Stop! Please, it's a trap!" Mia shrieked. The sound of her voice must have alerted the creature to her presence once more, for instead of going again for the warrior, the creature launched itself at Mia. The girl on the ground didn't scream, but looked at Ryo in despair right as the creature hit her. Ryo lunged forward with a cry, raising his swords. Everything flickered again, causing him to lose his bearings. Then Ryo shoved his body at the creature, sending it sprawling to the side. Mia sat up with cold eyes and said to him in a icy voice

"Kill it, Ryo."

The creature twisted, turning back to him, and for the first time backed up. Ryo stared at it waiting for it to make a move. It just looked at him with huge eyes, making noises low in its throat. Mia made a noise of fear, and Ryo jumped forward at the creature. It backed up again, crying out when his sword scraped down its shoulder. It shrunk back, still making the same odd noises. Ryo pulled back, confused now that it had stopped fighting.

Mia stood up and looked at it, her eyes glittering in the darkness.

"Ryo, kill it. It will come after us again. If you won't do it then I will!" Mia pulled out the small hunting knife Kento had given to her and leapt towards Ryo and the creature. This time the creature roared and jumped forward, thrusting Ryo over as it threw itself into Mia. Mia had started laughing, even as the pair tumbled to the ground. Ryo jumped up and grabbed the creature off of Mia, throwing it as hard as he could into the tree behind him. The creature hit the ground with a deadening thud. Ryo moved forward, lifting his swords to finally finish it off. He stood over it as the creature moaned, poised to run it through, but just then the creature looked up at him with scared green eyes. _Familiar eyes_. Ryo hesitated.

Mia stepped up behind him and grabbed his arms, pushing down on them with incredible strength.

"Do it," she whispered. "Kill it." There was joy in her voice, and it chilled him. The creature whimpered as the blades were pressed lower, hovering right over its skin. Such familiar eyes…Ryo's own widened and he started to pull away and that was when the illusion melted off of him.

Ryo looked down and went cold. He was back in the caves.

Mia lay beneath him on the stone floor, her hands pushing with all her strength up on his swords, tears in her eyes as she pleaded with him that it was her. Damian stood behind him, gripping down in his arms with inhuman strength, forcing his weapons down at the woman.

"Kill her Ryo," Damian chuckled in his ear. Ryo met Mia's eyes and for one moment they connected. Then with a cry Ryo wrenched himself sideways, throwing all his weight back against Damain's hold. Mia heard the bone pop as it tore out of its socket. Ryo gasped, turning white, eyes going back to Mia as she rolled out from under the descending swords. Damain turned, one arm still gripping Ryo's bad one, and he frowned.

"You ruined it," he said, irritation in his voice. Then Ryo's enemy snarled at him and yanked him upwards violently into the air by his arm. Ryo only screamed once before darkness overcame him.

------

Cye staggered so hard he almost fell. Nikki reached for his armored arm and tried to support him, even though his weight made her stumble as well. She looked up at the auburn haired man in concern. Cye had gone pale and was clutching at his head.

"What? What is it, Cye?" Nikki demanded. Cye just pulled away, rubbing his temples gingerly. His face was pained.

"Something…something bad just happened. Sage. Rowen…" Cye drifted off, turning his back to her. Nikki followed him, her eyes growing wide.

"What happened to Sage and Rowen? Cye? What happened to Rowen!" Nikki's voice rose an octave, but Cye just flapped his hand at her irritably. He leaned against the corridor wall heavily. Thus far they had not made much progress, and no matter how far they walked only more endless corridors stretched out in front of them. The flickering torches lining the walls gave Cye's face an eerie cast as he slumped forward.

"They just got hurt. Something just hurt them badly," Cye finally said, his voice strained.

"How badly?" Nikki asked in a small voice. Cye shook his head again.

"They're still alive, but whatever attacked them knocked them out. I can barely feel them. All I got was a sharp jolt of pain and then nothing."

Nikki pursed her lips unhappily, looking around. They needed to get out of there. The others were falling, and she knew who was taking them out. They needed their combined strength to fight this enemy and the worst thing that could have happened was for them to get separated. _Of course, that had been the plan all along_. Nikki narrowed her eyes as she thought about the situation at hand. She had been in the actual palace in Damian's realm and as long as those corridors were, they hadn't been this long. This wasn't an illusion, but it definitely was a trap. The corridor had a slight curve to it and Nikki wouldn't be surprised to find that they had been going in a huge circle this entire time. She walked over to the wall opposite of Cye and laid her palm flat against it. The stone felt real, but at the same time she had a hunch.

"Cye," Nikki said quietly, "Do you think you can break through this?" Cye looked up at her through narrowed eyes.

"I already tried, Nikki. The only other thing I could do would be to use my Super Wave Smasher. But it'll most likely come right back at us and hurt you. I won't do it." Nikki nodded thoughtfully, then she stepped into the center of the corridor. She pointed one finger upwards.

"How about up there?" Nikki suggested, her face twisted into an expression of self mocking. Cye looked up at the ceiling and felt his stomach drop.

"You're serious? It took us this long to figure this out?" Cye snarled angrily, clenching his fists. "Right above our freaking heads…" Cye straightened and reached for his weapon. He crouched down, getting his feet underneath him, and thrust upwards. The head of his weapon struck first, punching through the rock ceiling like it was paper. The armored man followed and was instantly lost from sight. Staring up at the dark hole, Nikki didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She bet that Rowen had figured this out ages ago, and for a split second was unreasonably angry at him because of it. She hated it when he made her feel stupid. Then Nikki remembered what Cye had said about Rowen and Sage being hurt, and she shuddered. She didn't want to know how Damian had managed to get to them. Cye's head popped back down through the hole, and he lowered the staff end down to her.

"Grab on," Cye said. Nikki did as he asked, and with one easy pull the slim young man lifted her up though the hole above her. Cye caught her around the waist and drew her safely away from the hole. Nikki looked around in shock.

Nothing was what she had expected. Her feet rested firmly on wooden boards, and around her stretched one huge open room. Heavy wooden support beams reached like trees from the floor to the ceiling, a forest of architecture. The ground seemed to glow with a kind of odd luminescence, and at first Nikki didn't understand. That is until she took a step and almost fell back through the corridor's ceiling to the dirt below. Cye reached out quickly and yanked her back.

"Careful," he warned. "Stay on the boards. Nothing else is substantial."

Nikki looked at the floor more closely and gasped. Where the board underneath her feet left off, there was only a thin paper-like material stretching across the gap to the next board. Nikki realized that the light was actually coming from a series of lit corridors beneath them, and that through the paper she could actually see down into the halls below. And if _she_ could see down there…Nikki looked at Cye in horror. He had knelt next to her, his handsome face strained. Neither one of them needed to bring up the obvious: that it was probable Damian had been watching them unseen the entire time. Nikki shuddered and stood up.

"What do we do now?" she asked Cye. The Ronin of Torrent gestured to the rows of corridors stretching past them.

"You see they all curve in the same direction?" he noted. Nikki nodded.

"They're a big circle," she said. "Which means they'll all end up in a little circle."

"Which means if we want to find the little circle, we head that way." Cye pointed to his right. Nikki sighed as she looked around.

"There's no door number two, is there?" she asked under her breath. Cye just gave her a tight smile and stepped carefully over to the next wooden plank. Nikki followed, letting him help her across the distance since her shorter legs didn't reach as far. They had only made it over a few corridors when Cye bowled over, gasping out loud as he hit one knee. The young man knelt there bent over, his face lost from sight. Nikki almost didn't want to know what had happened now. She didn't have to ask. Cye's barely audible whimper of Hardrock's name was all she needed to know.

"Cye, get up," Nikki snapped. The auburn haired man glared up at her, but Nikki had already grabbed his arm and yanked on it. "You can't help them like this. Keep moving!" Cye continued to glare at her, then stood up, weaving slightly. She steadied him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on," Cye said to her, voice harsh as he turned away. Nikki tried not to take it personal. If the others were in pain, it would affect Cye the most. His empathy was rarely a gift. Nikki silently followed him deeper into the endless room, hoping that they were right about where to go. She didn't want to think about the implication if they weren't.

Neither Nikki or Cye could have said how long they had traveled or how far, but the curvature of the halls below slowly became tighter and tighter. Finally Cye paused in front of her and motioned her to be still. He hunched down and pointed ahead of them. Not twenty feet away, the floor suddenly dropped off. Below was a large round room, identical to the one that they had first entered, only this one had no decoration to it. The only thing in the room they could see was a large stone chair sitting up on a dais that wrapped one part of the curved wall, with a large door beside it. As quietly as he could, Cye crept forward. Nikki followed, trying her best to not step through the flooring as she navigated them without Cye's help. Cye had reached the edge and was peering over when he lurched once more, this time falling sideways with his hand clutching his right shoulder in agony.

"Ryo!" Cye cried out, voice piercing the silence as he lurched again.

"Cye!" Nikki gasped, reaching out to him but she was too late. Torrent had stopped paying attention to where he was, and in his pain he stepped too close to the edge.

He dropped like a stone.

Nikki saw Cye topple over and screamed, trying to grab at him. Moments later she heard the heavy crash of armor hitting hard ground, followed by a low groaning noise.

"Cye!" Nikki whispered over the edge, looking down at where the young man had fallen. "Cye, are you alright---" She drifted off as she saw what was hanging on the wall beneath her. It was the other Ronins, minus Ryo. Mia and White Blaze were no where to be found. Something clicked and in a panicked voice Nikki whispered down to Cye.

"Get up! Look around Cye! Damian has the others here and he just got Ryo! Get back up here now!" Cye rolled over slowly, rising to his knees to look at the wall across from the dais. Hanging there in chains were Sage, Rowen, and Kento, all unconscious and bleeding. Cye's eyes went wide as he stared at his comrades. He jerked when the sounds of doors opening and slamming closed reached his ears, growing louder and louder. _He was coming. _

"Cye!" Nikki whispered, tears coming to her eyes as she tried to get him to realize what was about to happen. If Damian took them all, then they were worse than dead. "Cye, _please_!"

Cye leapt to his feet, torn between trying to free his friends and risk facing Damian by himself or getting back up to Nikki to protect her and find a plan to save his friends. He took a step, towards which we'll never know, because at that moment one huge crash of a door echoed behind him, and Cye spun, gripping his weapon tightly as he positioned his body between the Ronins and Nikki and the final door his enemy was coming through. Nikki went pale as she stared down at Cye in horror. What could she do? Nikki racked her brain and came up with nothing. Short of jumping down there and throwing herself in front of Cye, anything she could do would be useless. So she watched, shaking, as the door slid open heavily. Cye tensed and crouched down to strike.

Neither one of them expected to see Mia walk through the door. The redhead took one look at the warrior in front of her, and her blood streaked face turned sadly upwards, directly to where Nikki remained hidden. Their eyes met, and Nikki knew that her luck had run out. Slowly Nikki stood and straightened, her eyes never leaving Mia's.

"Well?" Nikki said softly to the creature that stood behind her. "Are you ready for round two?" Damian rumbled a low deep laugh as Nikki turned around, adjusting his grip on Wildfire's good arm. The other had fallen limply at an unnatural angle beneath his armored body and Ryo looked like he was passing in and out. Damian walked closer, dragging Ryo carelessly behind him.

"Sweeting," Damian purred. "Did you forget that I won round two?" Then he stepped forward and with a negligent movement of his hand shoved Nikki off the edge. He watched her fall with mild curiosity, seeming amused that the remaining Ronin heard her gasp, and spun away from where he had been staring at Mia. Cye tried to leap to her rescue but just failed to reach her in time. Damian moved to the edge and kicked Ryo off after her. This time Cye managed to get there in time, catching Ryo's heavy body before his armor smashed down on the dark haired girl's limp form. Cye held Ryo to his side, turning his body so that he was between Damian and his leader.

"You piece of shit," Cye snarled up at the figure above him. Nikki had not stirred and an overwhelming rush of pain ripped through Cye. Another woman might have died, another that he had failed to protect. Eyes blinded by tears of rage, Cye backed up until he could place Ryo beneath Rowen's feet. The moment he had dropped his burden, Cye didn't wait. He thrust off the ground and directly into Damian. For the first time he connected with solid weight and both went crashing backwards through the flooring. Cye prayed that in the few moments he was able to occupy Damian that Mia might have a chance to rescue the others. Cye had no delusions that he could defeat his enemy, but maybe before he fell he could buy his friends some time.

The last thought Cye had as wood splintered and burst around him was that he hoped Mia was still on their side.


	18. Chapter 16

**Courting The Jester**

Chapter 16

_Mia sat in the darkness, her head bowed. Her long red hair had fallen out of its messy ponytail a long time ago, and now hung limply around her face. She was starving. She'd been here for too long, and her captor had not had the inclination to regularly provide the necessities that she needed to survive. Her stomach twisted in hunger and her throat was so parched she doubted she could speak if she tried. Mia didn't know, and she hadn't tried for a long time. Once she had realized that Damian wasn't going to take her back to her world this time, panic had overtaken her. Mia had screamed and beat her hands on the smooth stone walls of her prison, mentally crying out to Sage and Cye, to the rest of them in a desperate plea that they would hear her even from this far. She had received only silence in reply. _

_Once the panic had died away, Mia had slumped to the floor, her mind racing. This was a trick, it had to be a trick. Everything Damian did was a trick. What felt like hours here only felt that way because she was alone in the dark, in a tiny room that stank of sulfur and sweat. It was hot, and the air pressed down on her from all sides, even more confining than the stone walls. Mia told herself she couldn't have been here that long. Damian never kept her too long. It amused him to return them back to their own world after only a couple of hours had passed, to do as much damage as he could and then watch them try to put on a brave face in front of their friends. The hours he kept them however could feel like a lifetime, and Mia reassured herself that this time was the same. This would end eventually, and in a couple hours she would be home, as safe as she could be these days. She had settled back to wait._

_Eventually the thirst had come. The air here burned her lungs, and each breath hurt her chest and her throat a little more. Then finally the hunger had come. It started at a low rumble, but built until she was sick from it. Sharp pains developed, but bravely she tried to wait it out. She searched the darkness, running her hands along the walls to try to find a way out. There wasn't one. Mia tried to remember how she had gotten in here, but the memory wasn't there. Her hands never found a door or a window, she was completely sealed in by stone walls. The realization brought another surge of panic, and this time she had screamed with what was left of her voice at Damian, once again beating her hands uselessly against the walls. He had promised he wouldn't kill them. That was the deal. He had promised! Mia screamed until her voice gave out, and her bruised and scraped hands stopped hitting the walls. She had staggered back, stared around in the complete darkness, and slumped to the floor in defeat_.

_It seemed like a lifetime. She passed in and out of consciousness. Every once in a while she would wake up to find a rude leather flaskin filled with stale sharp tasting water. Mia would wring it until the very last drop was squeezed out, but it was never enough to quench her thirst. Instead it just prolonged the inevitable, making her more lucid and reminding her of her situation. _

_She didn't know how long she had been there, but Mia finally reached the point where she believed she would soon die. She started to welcome it, compared to this desperate isolation. She had reached the point where her fighting spirit had finally left her and she had given up on rescue. That's when he finally came._

_Strong arms wrapped around her and picked her up, carrying her out of the room and away from her prison. He murmured to her, a gentle voice that Mia would have known in her sleep, and his words were comforting. He told her it would all be okay, that he was there. Mia wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, clinging to him. She had hoped, had prayed he would rescue her. She never should have doubted him, he was always there for her when she needed him._

_He carried her away, sometimes running, sometimes fighting, but always moving towards some indeterminable point that he said would be their escape. She believed in him. And she did her best to keep up, despite her weakened condition. He found them places to hide when they needed rest, places where nothing came looking for them. It was in those moments that he pulled her into his arms and held her, telling her how much he loved her, and how scared he had been that he was going to lose her. Mia had clung to him, telling him that everything was okay now. That would find a way to be okay together. He had kissed her, tentatively at first, but then with growing passion. _

_It was what Mia had dreamed about for years, being in his arms, feeling the strength of his body and the heat of his skin on hers. She had always been reserved, but his touch calmed her and the smell of his skin, a mixture of sweat and spicy aftershave, made him all the more attractive to her. He had slowly explored her body, never pressuring, but gently asking her what she wanted. She wanted him. _

_She had never been with a man before, but this was the man she had wanted to be with. It hurt as first but he was gentle, and she soon lost herself in his arms._

_She should have known better._

_It was subtle at first, but the longer his body moved and flexed over hers the more things seemed wrong. She asked him to stop, and he looked at her in confusion. She told him to stop and he did. But as he moved off of her he looked down at her and grinned. Mia went cold. She had spent all this time building up her defenses so that she was never taken by surprise by him, but she stared at Damian in shock and horror. That's what he had been waiting for. Her defenses were down, and he leaned down and clamped his mouth over hers, delving her._

_It was different when Damian delved. He was after one thing, information about his enemy. Their strengths, their weaknesses, all were locked away in this girl's mind, and he ravaged through, taking every bit of it he could before she was able to finally force him out. Then he left her, letting the illusion dissipate. She was still in his castle, in that perfectly round room, lying on the center carpet. Mia screamed as he walked away, the stone walls slamming down after him. She keeled over, burying her face in_ _her hands, horrified that she had let this happen. That she had let her love for one of them bring her to the point that she betrayed them all. Mia had dealt a dangerous hand and had just lost to the most deadly player in the game. And there was no one to blame but herself. _

-----

Cye and Damian crashed through the flooring, both disappearing from view. Silence stretched as the figures in the room remained motionless. Even the stone walls seemed to hold still, as if the horror that had taken place, and that was going to take place would be stopped if only no one moved. Then Ryo groaned, armor creaking and snapping through the silence, and he stirred painfully on the ground at Rowen's feet.

"Mia…" Ryo's voice, raspy and in pain, echoed through the room.

Mia raised her head. Her eyes ran over the Ronins, bound or injured or both. She looked at Nikki where she had fallen, her body limp and her dark hair fanning the ground beneath her. For a moment a flicker of pain crossed Mia's face, just one, then her eyes hardened.

"Mia…" Ryo groaned again, struggling to rise, hand clinging to a wall slippery with blood, Rowen's blood. The blue armored man hanging above him had the dark sticky stuff caked down his neck, and it ran out the joint of his right arm to drip out at an alarming rate. If he didn't get help soon, Rowen was going to bleed to death.

"Mia, help me get them free," Ryo said between clenched teeth, face ashen as he put pressure on the torn and battered arm hanging loosely at his side. "Quick, before he gets back!"

Mia never even looked at Ryo as she suddenly bolted away from him towards the middle of the room. Ryo's eyes widened in shock, then a wave of nausea waved through him, causing him to stumble and lose his balance, grabbing on to Rowen's leg for support. The action caused Strata to groan, weakly kicking out his foot in defense.

"Rowen!" Ryo cried, "Rowen it's me, Ryo!"

"Ryo…" Rowen muttered, raising his head to stare confusedly around the room. His face was white as a sheet, making his dark blue eyes stand out from his gaunt face. His movement pulled at the wound at his neck, the barely clotted mess splitting and welling up with fresh crimson. "Ryo, what happened? Where are we?"

"It was a trap," Ryo said, once again trying to stand, gripping onto his bound friend for support. "This whole fucking thing was just one big trap." Ryo's tone, though weak and in pain, was filled with a barely contained fury, and his eyes had narrowed dangerously.

"I have to get you free, Rowen," Ryo stated, using his good arm to grasp the chains that held the other man's hand's bound over his head. "We don't have much time. I don't know how much longer Cye can hold him off!"

As if in answer to his words, a huge crash sounded, shaking the walls and causing the room itself to groan and shift. It was enough to cause Kento's eyes to flutter open, followed by a low string of curses as he winced in pain. Sage however remained limp in his chains, chin touching chest and blood-caked blonde hair obscuring his face.

"Why the hell is everyone upside down?" Kento growled, craning his head around to look at Ryo and Rowen in confusion. Ryo had slid one of his swords free and was aiming at the chains holding Rowen.

"Don't miss, man," Rowen suggested as Ryo's sword snapped through the heavy metal. Rowen fell to the ground instantly, with Ryo unable to break the fall because of his bad arm. Rowen groaned and put one hand up to his neck. He moved his hand away, staring at the blood, then looked around the room weakly.

Nikki had started to stir, and Rowen pushed up to wobbly feet, trying to head towards her. Nikki was in better shape than he was though, for while she was able to slowly stand and get her bearings, Rowen's legs gave out from underneath him and he fell back to his knees.

"Rowen!" Nikki cried, running across the room to his side. She took one look at his neck and shuddered, ripping at her sleeve for a piece of cloth to bind the wound. She tied it around his neck as tightly as she dared, listening as Ryo slowly and painfully freed the other Ronins. They had managed to wake up Sage, but he looked about as unsteady as Rowen was. His eyes were half glazed over and they saw that he had been struck brutally in the back of the head.

"Mia! We need you over here," Nikki shouted. "Sage is hurt, and I don't know if he's okay or not. This isn't my area of expertise."

Mia however ignored the call, on her knees with her face panicked as she dug at the ground in the middle of the room. The flooring was hard packed dirt, so her fingers barely scratched at the surface as she desperately tore at it. Realizing that her actions were futile, Mia's head jerked up and she cast around for some sort of help. Ryo stared at her in shock as the redhead jumped to her feet and plunged toward him. He didn't even realize her intentions until her hands closed around his sword, yanking it out of his grip before spinning and throwing herself back at the same place in the ground. Mia thrust the point of Ryo's sword into the ground, watching it slide easily half way up the blade. Mia went to jerk it back out, but the sword had flared up in a bright red light that threw her backwards.

"Ryo!" Mia cried, "Get it out! Now!" Not even sure why he was doing as she said, Ryo strode forward and gripped Wildfire's weapon. It surged even brighter as his hand touched it, and he felt an overwhelming compulsion to thrust the sword as far as he could into the dirt and to unleash all his armor's power into that one spot.

"NO!" Mia shrieked, rising and throwing herself into Ryo, grasping at his arm and trying to pull his weapon free. "Don't! Please Ryo!" Ryo stared at her in bemused confusion until suddenly a dark haired girl was at his other side, pulling at his arm as well. Thrown off-guard, Ryo stepped back slightly and pulled the sword out of the ground. As it came free the weapon surged one last time, red light slamming into the ground, blowing dirt and rocks in every direction.

Mia uttered a low cry as she hit her knees once more, thrusting her arms into the hole created by Wildfire's armor. Her body was half in the hole as she searched desperately for something they didn't understand.

"Mia, what the hell are you doing?" Sage asked weakly, pushing up to his feet, then suddenly his eyes went wide. His armor had started to glow and was pulsing brightly. The others around him were paused in a similar shock, watching as their armors did the same.

Sage's armor was tearing at him, causing him to take an unconscious step forward towards the hole. Anger welled in him, not from him but from an external source, something that raged against whatever it was that was in that hole. Sage wasn't even aware that he had drawn his weapon and taken another step forward, because his mind was spinning. Familiar images and feelings were turning inside him, and the image of a small clearing in the woods came unbidden to his thoughts. An image and heat and light and spinning and a sense of something being so terribly terribly _wrong_… Something telling him that something was wrong and it was him that was wrong. _He was wrong_.

And it was all because of whatever was in that hole.

"Mia!" Nikki cried out in warning, stepping back towards her friend as four armored men took an unconscious step towards them, their armor glowing with a blinding brightness and their weapons half raised. "Mia, a little help here!"

"Yes!" Mia crowed triumphantly, straightening from the hole, something dirty and square in her hand. It was a ratty old wooden box, filthy and rotting, but Mia cradled it against her stomach protectively. Hands shaking, she unclasped the lid and looked inside. Disappointment flooded her face, and she sat back on her heels. In her hand dangled a small dark crystal on a silver chain, glittering and reflecting in the light of the armors.

"That's the seal!" Ryo said, his armor flickering as he shook his head to clear away confusing thoughts. "Mia, you found the seal!"

Mia looked sick. Sage, however, was still spinning inside his mind, and his armor had taken over. Sword raised he moved towards Mia, eyes blank but face twisted in anger.

"Sage! What are you doing?" Ryo cried out, moving to intercept Halo. Sage struggled against Ryo's grip, and Rowen moved to help Ryo. Between the two of them they pushed Sage back, albeit barely. The motion spilt Rowen's wound again, and he paled, hand pressing against the cloth binding to try and staunch the bleeding.

"There's something wrong with that crystal," Sage said, perspiration beading his forehead. He was about to say something else when a blue armored figure came flying into them, knocking Sage and Ryo back. Cye moaned weakly, his handsome face bloody and his eyes looking dazed. Rowen had turned and stepped sideways in front of Nikki.

Damian smirked as he crawled down the wall, licking his lips in anticipation. Sage and Ryo had pulled the broken and bleeding Cye to his feet and were supporting him between their two bodies. Rowen was swaying where he stood, his body the only thing between Nikki and the demon slithering towards them.

"That was fun," Damian said jovially as he reached the bottom of the wall, rising back to two feet. "He actually put up a struggle…for a while." He cracked one of his knuckles, causing Nikki to flinch from where she was standing.

Damian strode forward towards them, but unfortunately Mia was halfway between them and him, on her side, her arm reaching down into the hole as far as she could. She watched him with growing fear but kept searching with her hand.

"Mia!" Rowen yelled, "Get back!" Mia's eyes widened as Damian dropped back down to his hands and knees, crawling with alarming speed at her, his face in a large toothy grin and black eyes glittering. Mia shrank away but kept her arm inside the hole. She heard the yells coming from hr friends, and the crash of armor as they moved towards her, but all she saw were those teeth coming at her. Finally just as Damian lunged for her, Mia flattened over the hole, crying out as she rolled, both arms disappearing in the hole momentarily as she thrust her back at him. She braced herself for his attack, but instead something heavy hit into her back, metal digging into her skin as she was shoved backwards, away from the hole with only the crystal dangling in her grasp. Kento had thrown himself in between Mia and Damian on the ground and now the creature had crawled on top of him, nails and teeth tearing at his armor.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Kento snarled, kicking and fighting. Kento jerked out the broken off spear head and thrust it at Damian's unprotected throat, causing him to rear back and knock the weapon away. Kento managed to land a heavy kick right into Damian's throat, managing to knock him back a few feet. Damian merely licked his lips and began crawling towards them again, slower this time.

"She seems awfully focused on that hole," Damian murmured.

"Go to hell," Kento said through gritted teeth as he regained his feet.

"Do you wonder why that crystal calls to you, sweeting?" Damian purred. "Do you wonder why it wants you to touch it, to hold it, to destroy it?"

"Shut up and fight me," Kento snarled, tightening his grip on his staff. Damian giggled and crawled forward a few more feet.

"Are you still believing what she's telling you, sweeting?" he asked Kento. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"

"Figured what out?" Kento spat, backing up another few steps. Mia remained behind him, edging backwards as well.

"_That everything she says is a lie."_

Kento hesitated, and a flicker of emotion passed over his face. Then he steeled himself and raised his arms up to deliver a blow. Damian twisted, faster than they would have possibly believed, and lunged for Mia, snatching the wrist that held the crystal. He squeezed with his hand, nails digging painfully into her skin and the crystal dropped from her hand.

"No!" Mia cried, trying to twist to grab it before it smashed to the ground. She watched in dismay as it hit the floor, bounced once, then lay still in one piece.

"See?" Damian purred, "She doesn't want it destroyed for her own reasons. She doesn't want you to know."

"Let her go!" Kento roared, throwing himself at Damian. Damian released Mia but moved back beyond Kento's reach, seeming content to watch. Mia threw herself on the ground, clutching at the crystal. Kento's armor yanked at him, the way Sage's had yanked, but Kento continued to try to stave it off. He wanted to trust Mia, and she had said that the crystal was important. _He had to trust her…_

"Mia, give me the crystal and get back!" Kento ordered.

"No," Mia whispered, backing to the side.

"Mia! Give me the fucking crystal! It makes you a target!" Kento roared, sidestepping to keep between Mia and Damian.

"No." Mia backed up another step, not just away from Damian, but away from Kento as well. Kento looked at her, his face hurt. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the other Ronins moving around to flank him, but Damian didn't seem interested in fighting anymore. He just grinned at Mia with amusement.

"Mia…?" Kento said softly, stretching his hand out to her, still trying to fight his armor driven instincts. Mia shook her head and backed one more step away. Kento froze, eyes flickering from her to Damian and back again. Finally he moved quickly, but it wasn't towards his enemy.

"I'm sorry, Mia," Kento said as he leapt forward and seized her hand. Mia had just enough time to gasp in dismay before he jerked the black crystal out of her grip and closed his large fist around it. The crystal was strong but Hardrock was stronger. There was a single crunch and then the crystal shattered into a thousand glittering pieces.

When the memories hit, it was like a flood drowning out everything else around them. Stones can't differentiate what memory belongs to whom, so everything hit everyone all at once. Feelings and emotions, tastes and smells, every touch, every fear, every scar was felt by all. And for a brief moment, seven became one.

_The crowd at the airport mulled around Rowen and Ryo, pushing and talking and rushing. Both men waited patiently, although Ryo's eyes flickered back and forth excitedly as he scanned the crowd._

_"Her plane should have landed by now," Ryo stated for the millionth time. "Where is she?"_

_"She'll be here, buddy. Calm down," Rowen reassured him. Ryo always became excited when Mia got back from long trips, and tended to mope when she was gone. The two seemed joined at the hip these days, and it wasn't just Rowen that speculated there might be more to the relationship then friendship. Ryo had been almost unbearable these last couple days before Mia returned from the States._

_Ryo stood up on his toes, peering over the crowd, then came back down with a broad grin spreading across his face. "There she is," Ryo stated happily, his body language relaxing. From his taller viewpoint, Rowen could easily make out a red head, but to his surprise a short brown haired girl was walking with Mia. Mia smiled beautifully when she saw them and ran to hug Ryo. Then she hugged Rowen as well, but Rowen was preoccupied with his study of the other girl that hung back a little hesitantly. She wasn't pretty, at least not in a turn your head way. She was shorter than the girls Rowen usually liked, and he had always preferred blonde hair. Still, there was something interesting about her, something Rowen just couldn't quite put his finger on. _

_"Nikki, these are my friends, Ryo and Rowen. Guys, this is Nikki, she decided to come back with me for a couple weeks," Mia introduced in Japanese, words that she had taught Nikki earlier on the plane. Ryo smiled and said hello in Japanese, bowing politely. Rowen however seemed distracted, not saying anything as he sized the girl up, and seeming not to hear Mia's words. Nikki smiled sweetly and held out her hand to Rowen. _

_"Hi, my name's Nikki," she said in English. "Nice to meet you, and thanks for staring at me like I'm a piece of meat, jackass." Mia snorted and Nikki smiled brightly as Rowen took her hand, confident he had no clue what she just said._

_"It's nice to meet you, Nikki," Rowen replied in flawless English. "And you're welcome." He bowed to her, his eyes amused and slightly mocking. The American flushed, then jerked her hand back. As they left the airport, Ryo looked over at Rowen. _

_"Kind of got started off on the wrong foot, huh Rowen?" he said, a small smile on his mouth. Rowen just shook his head._

_"Doesn't matter, Ryo. It's not like she's going to be around very long, anyways."_

-----

_Kento had walked upstairs, curious about Mia's new guest. He heard voices coming from Mia's study, and he headed that direction, only to trip on his shoelace, which had somehow come untied. Kento knelt down and retied it, the voices drifting to his ears. Nikki was wandered around Mia's study, listening as the other girl's fingers tapped out swift keystrokes on her computer. Nikki ran her hand along on of the katanas that hung on the wall._

_"You sure have a lot of stuff here, Mia," she said, "It all looks pretty valuable. Do you have any kind of security system on it?" Mia smiled and looked up from her computer._

_"I have an obscure kind of security system. You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Mia resumed tapping on her computer._

_"Mia?" Nikki asked, holding up a small grey piece of stone. It was rounded and flat, like a disk, and had an odd feel to it. "What's this? It seems warmer than the rest of the room."_

_"I don't know, Nik," Mia replied, her voice sounding distracted to Kento's ears. "My grandfather collected a lot of things before he died. I haven't got around to figuring out what all of them are yet." _

"_It's really warm, Mia."_

_Kento saw Mia move across the room to where Nikki stood, and the redhead picked up the disk. _

"_That's funny," she said. "I don't remember it being this warm. But then again, some materials hold heat better than others." _

_Kento finished tying his shoe, rose, and moved to the doorway. He smiled at both girls and upon seeing him, a huge grin split Mia's face. She set the disk down and moved to give him a big hug. _

"_Long time, no see," Kento said happily, hugging her back tightly. Nikki glanced once more at the disk and moved away, leaving it forgotten on the cabinet._

-----

"_Cye? Cye, I can see him. Why can I see him Cye?"_

-----

_The wind picked up, blowing Sage's thick hair across his face. There was something about tonight, something…_wrong_. The usually gentle waves rose high and crashed heavily into the dock, giving an eerie backdrop to Sage's mood. He didn't know what had sent him out here this late at night, usually he was an early riser and went to bed accordingly. But something had driven him here, something was pulling at the edge of his consciousness. Something…_

_A gust of wind smacked into him so hard that Sage actually staggered back, shocked at the unexpected voracity. Water droplets sprayed at his feet and reached up to sting his eyes. Even the ground seemed to lurch beneath his feet, causing Sage to stare around him in confusion even as he sought to balance himself. Only half an hour ago the weather had been calm but now everything seemed to be going crazy. As if the elements themselves were trying to get his attention._

The elements.

_A sudden rush of terrifying clarity tore through Sage's body and he spun around, racing frantically towards Mia's house. No one else was home but the girls. If something was happening, it was happening to them. Sage reached the back door, shouldering through it, and bursting into the kitchen. The lights were out. It was late, that wasn't unusual. But that feeling of wrongness had spread and Sage ran through the kitchen, bellowing Mia's name. Driven by instinct he went directly to the stairs, taking the steps three at a time. _

"_Mia!" he cried, reaching her bedroom. He didn't even think twice about jerking open the door, but all he found was crumpled up empty blankets. He tried Nikki's door next to Mia's but found the same. Casting around in frustration, Sage noticed the tiny amount of light peeking out from under the closed study door at the end of the hallway. That's where they were. Sage strode swiftly down the hall, but as he approached that closed door, he found that his steps slowed, and four feet away from the door he faltered. Sage had known fear in his life, he had fought with it constantly in their battles with Talpa. He had learned to control his fear, to contain it and use it to help him, not hinder him. Fear induced adrenaline had saved him more than once in his life. But this…this was different. _

_He did _not_ want to go into that room. _

_But Mia was in there, and so was Nikki and Cassie. If they were in trouble, then Sage had no choice. And standing here staring at a closed door wouldn't help them. Sage couldn't explain why he was trembling as he turned the doorknob, or even why the brightly lit room with the three familiar faces in it didn't calm him in the slightest. All Sage could focus on was that there were crumbled pieces of an old grey disk lying scattered on the carpet, and that the room had become much too warm. _

"_Sage?" Cassie whispered softly from her place in Mia's desk chair, her blind eyes flickering around as she scanned the darkness she lived in. Her face blanched and she flattened back in her seat, flinching away from something none of them could see._

"_Sage?!" Cassie cried out more frantically, reaching her hand out to the side he was on and extending her fingers to him desperately. Sage took two steps towards her, his hand just managing to grasp hers when the house seemed to shudder beneath them. Then the lights went out._

-----

_Ryo leaned his head against the wall in frustration. His body ached, his muscles stretched and torn in places he'd never hurt before, not even when fighting Talpa. He had always prided himself on his strength and stamina, but this new enemy was more than he could keep up with. How do you face an enemy that is never really there? One that flickers in and out of reality, staying only long enough to play on your doubts and your fears, to convince you that your friends had fallen, only to find that you yourself were fighting them? And almost killing them? It wasn't that this enemy wasn't real, he was. His blows broke bones, and his attacks could throw them for miles. Right now Cye lay unconscious upstairs, his wounds from the shockwave being treated by Sage as best he could. But Sage could only do so much, and the weaker he was when they were attacked, the more this enemy seemed to hone in on him. Damian was like a cat, playing with them before he struck, and he seemed to find immense pleasure from focusing in on the ones that were most vulnerable. That meant the girls, and that made Ryo very nervous._

_This fight had gone on too long. At this point they had been fighting for almost three months straight, with never more than a day or two without any attacks. At first it had just been Damian himself, twisting them and toying with their minds. But now he had seemed to step back and was idly watching, amusing himself by sending…things after them. They prowled around in the darkness outside Mia's home. Not even the guys went out at night alone anymore. No matter how many of the creatures they fought, more just kept coming. And when Damian attacked them personally when they were worn down…well, things went from bad to unimaginable. So they picked their battles, and left the creatures to themselves, only fighting the ones they had to and saving themselves for the harder fights. Even now, inside Mia's home, Ryo could feel them out there. Their numbers grew more each night, and when he looked out the window he swore the darkness crawled. But there was nothing they could do. It was a bitter pill to swallow. _

_Ryo leaned his head against the wall in frustration. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than sleep. But with sleep came dreams, dark dreams, and he always woke with the feeling as if he was being watched. White Blaze wasn't even a reassurance. The animal had taken to prowling the manor restlessly, only stopping when Ryo tried to sleep. Then he would sit by Ryo's bedside, growling that low rumbling growl that signified something was wrong. But Ryo was at the point he ignored it. Something was almost always wrong these days. But they would find a way to get through this. They would find a way to beat Damian. Ryo repeated this to himself almost on the hour. They would find a way to beat this demon out of their lives._

They had to.

-----

_"You know, you're the biggest jackass I've ever met!" Nikki screamed at Rowen, stomping across the room and slamming down her book on the table. "You think you know everything-"_

_"When it comes to this, yeah I do Nikki," Rowen snarled back. "Don't think for one second that just because I can't stand you and that when half the time you talk I want to put my head through a wall that I'm going to sit around and let you put yourself in danger! Like it or not, missy, we've got a reputation to maintain, and even though I doubt anyone would miss you too much, you're not going anywhere."_

_"Try me," Nikki snapped, marching towards the front door. Rowen was so angry he didn't even realize what he was doing. All he knew was that something bad was outside and he was supposed to protect this girl and she wanted to make his life more difficult than it already was. Nikki had reached the doorway when she suddenly froze midstep. Rowen was about to say something nasty when he noticed the odd look on her face. And also the fact that her foot was still raised._

_"What…the…hell…did you do to me?!" Nikki snarled through clenched teeth. Filled with curiosity, Rowen went to her side. The short dark haired girl was trapped in a cocoon of air, which seemed rock hard to her, but squished under Rowen's finger as he poked at it._

_"Do you mind?" Nikki asked as he circled her, his eyes alive with wonder. "Rowen? Let me out!"_

_Rowen's eyes narrowed into a mischievous grin as he backed away and plopped down on the couch, kicking his feet up in relaxation._

_"Nope, Nik. Don't think I will."_

-----

_He watched Mia walk across the room, her fingers drumming absently against her hip. She was beautiful when she moved, and she seemed to posses a grace he had always lacked. She made him feel rough, almost uncouth in her presence, although the smiles she turned his way were always gentle and caring. But now, something was off. Just because he had spent most of the last two years trying to pretend he wasn't captivated by her, he still knew her habits better than he should. And now there was something different about her, something he instinctively didn't like. He knew the others couldn't tell yet. They were all preoccupied with…different things. _

_But him, he knew. It was in her eyes. There was something Mia wasn't telling them. And by the look in her eyes he wasn't sure he really wanted to know what that was._

-----

_Rowen stood up and brushed past her, grabbing his shirt up and yanking it on viciously. He paused in the doorframe and said over his shoulder,_

"_Actually Nikki, all I wanted was five lousy minutes of company. Of you not being a bitch for once. It might've been nice. Now I couldn't give a shit."_

-----

_"Stop it! You're friends! Stop this!" Cassie screamed. But they didn't seem to hear her, the two men struggling in the grass. Ryo managed to roll on top and thrust his elbow hard into Sage's throat, cutting off his air supply. Sage struck out at him and the blow landed hard on Ryo's face, but Wildfire never let down his pressure. Sage started to choke, coughing as he continued to struggle. _

_"Damn it, Ryo! You're killing him! Stop it!" Nikki shouted. "Rowen, do something!" Rowen just looked at her sadly and shook his head. He wasn't getting in between this, not when it was Ryo. Ryo was his leader and he wouldn't contradict him. That was the mistake Sage had made. He had stopped trusting in Ryo's leadership, and his fear for Cassie had driven him to make bad decisions that affected them all._

_"Friends don't do this! They don't do _this_!" Mia yelled at them, trying to intervene. Cye grabbed her arm and stopped her._

_"You don't get it, Mia. It's not just about us anymore. If Sage takes Cassie back to town, the creatures will follow him, and they will be free to attack helpless people. I know why he wants to, because I want to as well. But we can't. Ryo made that decision. Now we all have to stick by it."_

_"Ryo's hurting him," Mia whispered, turning her face away._

_"We're in a war, Mia." Kento said softly from her other side. "People get hurt."_

-----

_"Choose. Or they both die."_

"_I can't!" Cassie wailed, tears pouring out of her eyes as she knelt on the ground in front of Damian, her hands blindly stretched out in front of her, trying to touch something she recognized. She was lost, her sense of direction gone, but she could hear the sounds of both Sage and Cye choking above her. "I won't!"_

"_Then they both die," Damian said, his mouth twisted in amusement. He lifted his two captives higher and clenched down his fists. Both men were kicking and fighting, but this enemy was much stronger than either one of them, and the longer they went without air the weaker their struggles became. _

_Nikki stood up shakily, her body quivering as wave after wave of heat slammed into her. Her face went bleak as she whispered, "I can."_

"_NO!" Cassie shrieked._

_"I can," Nikki said again softly. Damian's head swiveled towards her and a grin crossed his face. His eyes glittered darkly as he strode up to her, each step crunching into the ground. Sage and Cye remained dangling in his grip, both fighting for air as Damian's hands systematically loosened and tightened around their necks. He was prolonging this as long as he could. _

_"Well, sweeting?" the devil asked her. "Who will it be? This one?" He lifted Cye up higher and gave him a little shake. Then Damian brought Sage up to Cye's height and turned him so that Nikki could see Sage's face better. His lips were turning blue and his eyes were starting to roll back into his head. _

"_Or this one?"_

_Nikki looked at Sage, then at Cye. Damian seemed sure of who she would pick and had already tightened his grip on Sage's throat. A sad little smile crossed her face and she whispered, "Cye? I'm really sorry…" _

_Damian's head tilted in surprise. It was only a moment, but that was all the moment Nikki needed. With a cry she flung herself at Damian, fingernails finding his eyes and gouging deep. With a roar of fury, Damian stepped back, swinging his arm so that Cye's heavily armored body slammed into Nikki, causing her to go flying across the room. But then Mia was there, having come up from behind him while Nikki distracted him. In her hand she clutched the small dagger that Ryo had given her earlier and she desperately thrust it at Damian's unprotected neck. _

_She had known it wouldn't work, that he wasn't really in this realm enough to be injured badly by something so small, but it could still hurt. The blade managed to slide into the back of his neck, deep enough that a faint bit of hope swelled inside her as Damian roared again, jerking forward and loosening his grip on Cye and Sage. Both Ronins crashed to the floor as Damian spun around, his hand jerking the bloody blade out of his flesh. He lunged at Mia, grabbing her up by the hair and lifting her off the ground. With a snarl he whipped the knife across her stomach. Mia screamed in pain as it cut a deep gash from rib to rib, not enough to pierce through her abdomen, but deep enough that her shirt was instantly soaked with blood. _

_"Hurts, doesn't it?" Damian purred as Mia began to writhe in his grip, screaming again, this time in even more pain. "It's the intermingling of our blood. My kind burns yours, eats away at it like poison. Do you like how it feels?" _

_Damian ripped off the torn half of her shirt and exposed Mia's bloody stomach. The gash was awful, but worse was the way the edges of the wound were beginning to blacken. With a deliberately cruel grin, Damian brought the knife across again, two inches above the first wound. Mia cried out, this time weakly, and her eyes started to roll back into her head. _

"_You don't get off that easy, lover," Damian said, sending a jolt of energy into Mia's body that immediately snapped her eyes wide open. She moaned in agony, tears streaming down her face as she continued to struggle. _

"_Once more for old time's sake?" Damian asked her, raising his hand once more. _

"_GET OFF OF HER!" someone bellowed furiously, and a flash of orange slammed into Damian, throwing all three figures across the room. Mia went tumbling and would have hit the ground with terrific force if it weren't for the red armored man that managed to get behind her in time, catching her in his arms. _

"_Mia?" Ryo gasped. The redhead collapsed weakly and Ryo had to lift her up. Blackened blood covered her stomach, soaking her clothes almost to her knees. "SAGE!" Ryo roared. A flash of blue passed him, as Rowen flung himself into the fight after Kento._

_Sage had managed to rise to his knees, and was gripping onto Cye's arm. Dark bruises had already started to rise up on both men's throats, and Cye seemed barely conscious. Ryo didn't even have to look at Halo to know how little strength he had left. But Mia was injured badly, and if she didn't get healing soon…_

_Ryo rushed Mia over to Sage, laying her down in front of the blonde man. Sage looked once at Ryo, then nodded, knowing that he had no other choice. Mia should have passed out by now, for her wounds were awful and were getting worse by the moment. The flesh across the rest of her stomach was beginning to blacken and the pain must have been unimaginable. She seemed unable to speak; she just stared up at them in mute agony, her body twitching with bits of the energy Damian had put inside of her. Her eyes begged them to make the pain stop somehow. Uncertainty surged through the armor bond as Sage examined Mia's wounds. Ryo knew that Sage doubted he could heal her. The poison from Damian's blood was spreading at an alarming rate. And if he couldn't heal her…Ryo cared very deeply for the woman in front of him and tears stung his eyes as he realized that if Sage couldn't help her, then it would be up to him to make the pain stop. Permanently. Ryo clenched his fists helplessly and stood back to watch, praying it didn't come to that. _

_Sage leaned over Mia and closed his eyes. Then he laid both of his hands flat against her stomach. Mia managed to cry out once more, and a shudder went through her body. For a long moment nothing happened, until finally Sage began to glow. The light around him pulsed and brightened until it reached a blinding intensity, then it dimmed and started to pulse down. Ryo's heart broke when he saw through the light that the wounds across Mia's abdomen still remained. Sage was trembling, but he still held on, throwing everything he had into it, but it wasn't enough. He wasn't strong enough to save her. _

_A hand dropped onto Sage's shoulder. It was taboo to touch Sage when he was healing. It always broke his concentration and stopped the healing, but this time it was different. Ryo could feel the surge of energy as Cye leaned into Sage, giving him his strength or what was left of it. Sweat was pouring down Sage's face and his body had started to shake violently. The light flickered then brightened. But was it enough?_

_It was. As the light died once more, Ryo leaned forward just in time to catch both Sage and Cye as they slumped. Cye's breathing was raspy and sporadic and Sage had become deathly pale. But Mia wasn't shaking in pain anymore, and she had managed to prop herself up on her elbows, staring down at her abdomen. It was still covered in blood, but the wounds were gone. Sage had healed her. Mia pushed herself up to a sitting position, and turned to Sage, a look of pure relief on her face. She leaned forward and hugged him, pressing her face against his shoulder. Sage gave her a weak smile and rested his chin on the top of her head, letting Ryo support them both. Mia reached her hand over and gripped Cye's tightly, and he too managed a smile for her. Cye bent his head, leaning in towards the others, and for one brief moment everything was all right again. They were all here together and they were okay. They had made it this far, everything was going to be alright._

_Rowen chose that moment to come flying past, hitting on his back and skidding until his helmet cracked against wall. He grunted and struggled upwards, rolling his eyes at the four huddled together._

"_Do you guys think you can have one of these 'moments' after we kill the bad guy?" Rowen inquired sarcastically. "Cause Kento and I are getting our butts creamed." _

_To prove his point, Kento came flying after him, his momentum taking him directly into Rowen and sending them both back to crack their helmets on the wall. At this point Rowen said something not very polite, rubbing his helmet and wincing._

_"A little help!" he spat. Mia jumped to her feet and moved to the pair, leaning down and grasping Kento's heavily armored arm. She managed to help pull him off of Rowen and onto his feet, but then she bent over, clutching her stomach in pain. Kento's arm went around her to support her, his eyes worried. _

"_Mia…" he started in, but she flapped her hand at him._

"_I'm fine," Mia said, rubbing her stomach tenderly. "Just still pretty sore." She put on a brave face, trying to smile up at him. Kento just shook his head, looking around their group. Ryo had managed to get Cye to his feet but Sage wasn't even able to remain sitting upright without swaying back and forth. Neither one would be much help in a fight. And the fight was coming their way._

_Damian moved towards them at an easy pace, allowing them the chance to get their bearings. He paused halfway there and reached down to pick up the knife he'd cut Mia with. He spun it in his hand, then grinned as he slowly licked the blood off the edge, his eyes focused on Mia as he did. A deep growl rumbled in Kento's throat, and his eyes flashed in anger. Sweat rolled down his face, and Mia knew he was exhausted, but Kento still pulled her behind him and gripped his weapon, bracing himself._

_"Do you think you are going to protect her, little one?" Damian asked Kento, tipping his head to the side. His grinned broadly, as he started to hum to himself. From her place behind Kento, Mia shivered violently. "Do you think that you can keep bad things from happening to her? All by yourself?"_

_Damian skipped a step, spinning the knife on his finger before flicking it behind him. Rowen had started edging towards to the left, one eye locked on Damian and one flickering to the where Nikki still lay crumpled on the ground. His movements were careful, aimed at appearing to only be circling his opponent, but Damian turned his head towards Rowen. _

_"Or you?" he asked, letting his teeth show as he grinned larger. "You turned your back, and oh what fun we had." Rowen's eyes flickered in confusion as he continued to try to place himself between Nikki and Damian. Damian winked at him._

_"Haven't you figured it out yet? The games we played?" Damian leaned forward and licked his lips. "Right…in…front…of…your…noses." _

_A snarl slipped from Kento's lips and he launched forward, throwing himself at Damian. Damian spun towards the attack, giving Rowen the chance to get to Nikki. Ryo came at Damian's other side and weapons clashed as their enemy slipped sideways out of the way. Hardrock and Wildfire turned after him, and Rowen looped his arm around Nikki, pulling her to his side and dashing back towards the others. Cye was looking around the room desperately for Cassie, but he couldn't find her. Fear rose in him as he gripped his yari and threw himself into the battle once more._

_-----_

_Cassie pulled something out of her pocket. She crawled forward towards the sound of the fighting, one hand clutching a small white disk tightly to her chest, the other searching the floor in front of her as she moved. She had heard it, it was here. Somewhere…Her hand touched something wet and sticky, and her fingers closed around the knife Damian had dropped. The sounds of crashing and grunting was progressively louder, and she could feel the heat on her skin radiating from their enemy. He grew more powerful, because he was letting more of himself through from his realm. Damian was confident and wanted to physically feel the hurt he was inflicting on them. It was his first mistake. _

_After all these months, it was his first mistake. _

_Cassie found her feet, trying to move as quietly as she could. She would only have one shot at this, one chance to save those she cared about. She felt the air in the room begin to swell, and she knew what was coming. Damian was going to blow them all into pieces, unleashing a shockwave in a place that would take them apart. Not even the Ronin armor would be able to withstand this one. Too much of Damian's real power was coming through. But she could feel where it was centering from, and even blind she knew exactly where he was._

_Damian raised his arms, laughing with glee as he spun in circles. The heat hit them in waves, pushing them all back but Ryo. Ryo tried one last time to attack him, raising his swords and calling his sure kill. _

"_Rage…of…"_

"_NO! Cassie's still back there somewhere, Ryo!" Cye yelled in panic. "Ryo, you can't!"_

"_INFERNO!!!"_

_Every bit of energy Ryo's armor had was flung at the spinning creature. Damian's laughter grew to a horrible pitch as he was surrounded by fire. He disappeared beneath the onslaught, and Kento leaned forward in desperate hope. Then a hand lifted from the fire, and suddenly Wildfire's attack condensed into a small sun, spinning and raging on the palm of Damian's hand. He winked at Ryo, leaned forward and like a candle, he blew it out. _

_The silence that remained was deafening. They stood there in shock, trying to comprehend how their strongest attack could be brushed off so easily. Ryo's eyes widened, then his face grew sick. The others shifted around him nervously, and almost as one the Ronin Warriors stepped back. Damian had finally done it. Month after month he had come at them, dragging down their spirits and taking away their sense of security. They had been exhausted and battered and bleeding, but not matter how many times Damian attacked them, they still stood up to him, still knowing that someway, somehow they would beat him. That they would lose. They couldn't lose. But this…this was too much. Understanding washed over them and with a kind of sick dread the Ronins realized that they couldn't beat this enemy. He was too strong, they would never win. Not only that, but he was going to kill them all, right here, right now. In that one horrible moment, the Ronin Warriors broke._

_Even heroes are human. No one wants to die and no one wants to see their friends die. No one wants to have every last shred of hope ripped from their chest, to be filled with doubt and uncertainty. Suddenly their enemy seemed larger, more terrifying real than anyone they had ever faced. Ryo found himself wishing that he had never brought his friends here, and Sage breathed a soft prayer under his breath. Even strong, steadfast Kento faltered, and his eyes began darting back and forth, looking for some way that they might escape. _

"_Mia, Nikki," Rowen whispered softly to the girls, "Run. The only way out is right behind him, but if we all attack him at once you might have a chance to get past." He reached behind his back and grabbed an arrow, notching it against the bowstring and pulling back. He sighted down the arrow at the figure that stood patiently waiting for their next move._

"_Bite me, Rowen," Nikki snapped, although her voice was thick with fear. "No one's bailing on anyone. Don't stop fighting him!" Rowen shook his head slightly, his bright, intelligent eyes going flat._

_Nikki turned towards Mia, whose eyes were locked on Damian's. _

"_Mia…?" she whispered. Mia didn't reply as she stared back at the creature that had haunted their lives for so long. _

"_Are you going to run away now, sweetings?" Damian asked in amusement. "Are you going to betray them even more by abandoning them?"_

"_Go to hell, you sick freak!" Nikki shot back. _

"_What does he mean by that?" Ryo asked them, his voice sounding wearier than they'd ever heard it. There was barely any curiosity in his tone, as if there was nothing anyone could say that would make this any worse. "How did you betray us?"_

"_I didn't betray you," Mia said tightly, but her face had gone very pale. _

"_Yes, you did, lover," Damian smirked back. Then he licked his lips again, eyeing her up and down. _

"_Don't call me that!" Mia snapped. Damian just laughed._

"_We bought us some time!" Nikki said, then gasped, putting her hand to her mouth. Beside her Rowen had gone very still. _

_"Would you like to see?" Damian asked politely. _

_That's when Damian raised his hands and showed them just exactly what he had meant. A screen of darkness appeared behind him, and in it were images. Only these weren't an illusion, they were real images of Mia and Nikki and Cassie, of them being taken from their home, of them in Damian's realm, crying and fighting and screaming. Of them lying to the Ronins when they returned. Image after image after image. Mia shrank at each one, as she heard her voice tell Damian she had a proposition for him. And then what she dreaded the most was before her eyes, her lying in the arms of a man that she loved, only to have him turn into Damian. She saw the horror on her face and she looked away. She saw him turn his blue eyes towards her, hurt and confused, but Mia refused to look at him. Damian stood back, reveling in the emotion damage he had caused, the looks of dismay and horror on the Ronin's faces, of the shame on Nikki and Mia's. He stopped paying attention to his entire surroundings. That was his second mistake._

"_Excuse me," a quiet voice said from directly behind Damian. He turned, having forgotten Cassie was even there. The slim blind girl smiled grimly and said, "Time to go back to hell, you sick bastard." Then she thrust the white disk against Damian's chest and plunged the knife through the center of it and into his flesh. Bright white light exploded from the disk, wrapping around both figures._

_Damian stared down at her in shock, for a moment not realizing what she had done. He roared in fury, striking out at her, but the blow never fell. He couldn't move. The white light held him paralyzed, and Cassie tried to jerk away. Her hand however was stuck on the hilt of the knife and she too couldn't move. The white light began to spin around them faster and faster as the Ronins stared in shock. Damian's glared murderously at the girl in front of him, and his teeth clenched as heat started to radiate even stronger, all of it aimed at Cassie._

_That's when the first cut appeared on Cassie's cheek. A second one crossed it, then a third. Her mouth opened in shock, and she cried out softly as sudden cuts started slicing all over her body, down her arms and across her face. Crimson started to well from the cuts, red lines crisscrossing in a chilling pattern. _

"_Cye," Cassie managed to whimper, as blood welled up on her lips. _

"_CASSIE!" Cye yelled, throwing himself forward towards the pair, but Mia somehow managed to get in between them first. She grabbed Cye's arm and with more strength than they'd ever seen from her, Mia shoved into him, tangling their legs and causing them both to crash to the floor. Sage stumbled forward as well, adrenaline and fear pushing him through his exhaustion, and he raised his sword with a cry. This time it was Nikki that intercepted Cassie's rescuer, although her method was much simpler. The short dark haired girl jumped in front of Sage and threw her arms around his neck, shoving her face in his so that he couldn't see where he was going. It startled Sage enough that he hesitated before grabbing Nikki roughly and shaking her off, cursing. Nikki wasn't going to give up that easily, and she wrapped her arms around his waist as he pushed past, digging in her heels and pulling Sage back with all the strength she had. _

_The confusion only lasted a moment, with Rowen and Ryo staring at the struggling pairs. Then they turned back and both leapt towards Cassie, but Kento had already gotten there first. The white light was so bright and spun so thick that it was hard to see anything but the top of Cassie's head, and Damian's shoulders and face. The creature was still staring murderously at the girl connected to him, but a look of indignation had crossed his face, as if he was very irritated about this entire thing. Kento reached out to grab Cassie with one armored fist._

"_NO!!!" Mia shrieked at Kento, her body still entangled with Cye's as she desperately tried to rise. A look of pure horror was on her face and she stretched out her hand towards Kento. Mia's scream rang through the room, causing Kento to hesitate just one split second. _

_It was enough._

_Cassie's head suddenly snapped back, her long blonde hair wrapping around her shoulders as her crimson covered face turned to the sky. Her shoulders lifted once, as if in a sigh of relief. Then the light folded. Where Damian was, a great rushing noise sounded, and with the smell of sulfur stinging the air, his body folded too, the light carrying him into the fold until nothing remained. Then the rest of the light surrounded Cassie and, after one great pulse, shattered like breaking glass. The force threw the ones who were standing back to the ground, and the ones on the ground flat on their backs. Then there was only silence. _

_Cye was the first one to lift his head up. His eyes widened and then he seemed to keel over on himself, his body shaking violently. Sage rolled to his side, then froze. His eyes stared ahead of him for one long horrible moment, then he rose to his knees, sat back on his heels and lifted his face to the heavens. The cry of grief that tore through from his throat was heartbreaking, and tears streamed down his face as the always unshakable Halo began to sob, great gasping breathes that shook his shoulders. _

_There was blood everywhere. It was even on them. Where Cassie had been only remained bloody scraps of the clothing she had worn, and those were thrown outwards as well. _

_There were bloody clothes everywhere. _

-----

"_You let this happen!" Sage screamed, tears running down his face. Cye remained on his knees, silently bowed over in despair. White Blaze had moved to his side and lay close to him, his furry face against Cye's thigh. "You LET it!" Sage raged. "You fools! Cassie's dead and it's all your faults! You wouldn't let us rescue her, why the hell didn't you let us rescue her? Why didn't you tell us you had a weapon that would defeat him? Why?!"_

"_You're right Sage," Mia whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "It is our faults. It's my fault. But it had to happen. I know you don't understand, but it had to happen…" Sage stared at her in complete disbelief, then came towards her, his face furious. Ryo stepped in between them, a sick expression on his handsome face._

_"Please, Sage," Ryo said, grasping Sage's shoulder in a firm grip. "Please don't make this any worse."_

_"How the hell could it possibly get any worse?" Sage snapped, jerking out of Ryo's grip and pushing past. "They betrayed us all! And Cassie died because if it. They went behind us and made deals with the enemy, and they lied to us over and over again. And this entire time we've been trying so hard to protect them and they…they…" Sage sputtered off, seeming unable to complete his sentence. Never before had any of them seen Sage this upset. It was as if every bit of control and serenity that made him who he was had vanished, and all that was left was a furious and broken man. Sage had never raised his hand to a female before in his life, except in competition and in fighting Kayura. But he stepped up to Mia and grabbed her forearm, yanking her closer to him, and raised his hand to hit her. Mia flinched and ducked her head, but the blow didn't fall. Kento had appeared, grabbing Sage's arm and twisting it painfully behind his back. Then Kento gave one mighty shove, pushing Sage back several feet._

_"Don't make me hit you, man," Kento said in a voice full of emotion. "I really don't want to do it. I know you're hurting bad right now, but don't do this. We can't turn on each other. Not now." Sage stared at Kento, face still raging. There was a long silent moment when the two stared each other down, then finally Sage seemed to wilt, his shoulders slumping forward and he buried his face in his hands, turning away. Ryo moved with him, giving Sage space but also staying within reach if something else happened. _

_"Kento," Mia started to say, but the armored man in front of her turned around angrily._

_"Don't talk to me," Kento snapped at her. "Don't say one word." He moved away from her, his face bleak. Mia stared at the men around her sadly. Rowen had moved away from everyone else, and was looking at her and Nikki, his face twisted and confused, as if he was trying desperately to piece together everything that had happened and link everything that came before it, trying to understand what they had done. Sage had secluded himself on the opposite side of the room, where his steps weren't in drying blood, his skin white as a sheet. He had passed anger for the moment and was standing there with his eyes closed, trembling. Kento had his back to her but she could see him shaking his head and knew he was talking to himself. Ryo looked at a loss, as if he didn't know who to try and comfort, and as if once again he blamed all of this on himself. Nikki was trying to talk to Rowen, but he wouldn't say anything, the sting of betrayal all over his face. But it was Cye that broke Mia's heart. Cye had gathered up a scrap of clothing, and was holding it tightly in his hand, cradling it to his stomach, his head bowed. He wasn't crying or raging the way Sage was, but he seemed oblivious to everyone else, so completely lost in his mourning that nothing else mattered. As far as Mia knew Cye hadn't shed a single tear but the look on his face told her that Cye had lost something so infinitely precious to him that the loss of it was crushing. It was the pain on Cye's noble face, and his armored hand holding that one strip of cloth so tightly as if he would never let it go, it was that that made Mia's decision to betray them one last time._

_"I'll fix this," Mia whispered softly to herself. She pulled something from beneath her jacket, something that she had hoped never to have to use, despite Kayura assuring her it would be necessary. "Nikki," Mia called out, her voice piercing the room. All heads turned towards her, and Nikki went to Mia's side. The shorter woman was shivering slightly, but there was relief on her face. She knew this was finally almost over. Nikki wanted her to do this too._

_"Don't worry," Mia whispered to the guys, her eyes lingering on Sage and Cye. "I'll fix this. I'll make everything alright again." Even Cye raised his head in confusion as Mia lifted a small black crystal in her hand and began to chant the words Kayura had taught her. The Ronins looked at her in amazement and distrust as her voice rose in pitch, naming the armors between words they didn't understand, then she ended the incantation. Little flecks inside the crystal started to slowly move. It would take a moment, Kayura said, but the words were right. Mia had just put into motion something that could not be stopped. _

_"What did you do?" Ryo asked Mia once more. At that moment Ryo looked older and more tired than she'd ever seen him. This whole thing had changed Ryo, and that sense of indestructibleness about him was gone. Even though Damian was gone, the Ronin warriors had lost, and the doubt that came along with that had settled inside of him._

_"You don't understand," Mia told them, her eyes going from one to the next. "None of you understand how important you are, for this world, for our future…The world needs the Ronin Warriors, the world needs you guys to keep it safe. Something's going to happen, not soon, but something is going to happen that only you can face and you have to believe that you are invincible! You have to know that you can win! Damian…He wasn't ever really in this realm. Only part of him was really here, and you weren't strong enough to defeat even part of him. These armors, they aren't nearly powerful enough to defeat him. Had he been here in reality with all the power he really possesses, he would have destroyed you with one blow. You know that, I see it in your eyes! These last months, I saw it eat at you, erode your confidence, take away your strength. What happens with the next enemy you come across? Your belief in yourselves is what made you win against Talpa, against everything you've ever faced. When Damian turned away your attack, Ryo, I saw it in your eyes! He broke you! He broke you all! Do you think that I'm going to sit by and let you spend the rest of your lives afraid that you aren't good enough, aren't strong enough? You are the only hope this world has! We need you, and I will be damned if I let this happen to any of you."_

_Mia stopped her rant, and looked pleadingly into their eyes. The flecks in the crystal were spinning faster, writing patterns inside the blackness beneath her hand._

_"Mia, it already happened," Ryo told her quietly. "You can't change that."_

_"I can if you don't remember any of it."_

_Heads snapped back up. _

_"You wouldn't," Rowen challenged her, but he looked very worried._

_"I already did, Rowen," Mia replied softly, keeping her voice steady. "The crystal's already activated. It takes a moment, but it's already done. It will take you all back to the beginning and you won't remember any of this. The fear, the horror, you won't remember any of it. And then you'll be strong, they way you once were, and when the world needs you, you'll be there, confident and strong. It has to be this way." _

_There was shocked silence, as if none of them could truly comprehend that she would do this to them. Then one of them stepped forward towards her. She stepped back, holding the crystal protectively behind her back. He stretched his hand out to her, and his blue eyes tore at her._

_"Mia…" he whispered. "I know you think you're right, that you're only trying to protect us, but this is wrong. Don't do this. Have faith in us, Mia. Have we ever let you down? Have _I_ ever let you down?"_

_"You don't understand," Mia repeated, shaking her head. But her voice had started to lose its confident edge. _

_"I understand you're scared, Mia. I understand you want everything back to normal, but this isn't the way." He looked at the crystal in her hand. The flecks were spinning faster. "Baby, please…please stop this. Don't take away what we had. We barely got started, we never got the chance to…fuck, I haven't even kissed you yet!"_

_"I love you…" Mia whispered. The look of pain on his face was almost more than she could bear. Then his expression darkened and he whispered thickly to her._

_"You wait until _now_ to say it? Now?! You're a coward." He moved away in disgust. _

_Rowen kept his eyes riveted on Nikki. She turned away._

"_Don't you dare," Rowen said roughly. "If you're going to do this, then watch what you're doing, Nik. Watch everything you're destroying. Watch it!" The snap of his voice made her flinch but she continued to look away._

"_Watch, Nikki!" Rowen roared. Nikki let out a broken sob and turned her back completely on him._

"_Nikki…" Rowen whispered. Nikki shut her eyes and prayed for it to be over._

_His back was still to Mia, and it tore her apart inside, but she refused to let it show on her face. It was almost done. The crystal jumped in her hands. Five seconds. Four. Three. He turned around and sad blue eyes looked deep into hers. He mouthed 'I'm sorry' and Mia couldn't keep the sob from escaping her lips. She grabbed her necklace and turned away, crying openly now. Two. One. _

"_I love you, too," he said softly. She wheeled around to see him but it was too late. There was a flash of light, brighter than the sun, that made everyone flinch back. Then it was all over. It was done. _

-----

The silence was deadening. No one moved, no one spoke. They just stared at each other, trying to comprehend everything that had just been thrown at them, to understand what the hell had just happened. Then as one all eyes went to Mia, where she had crumpled in front of Kento, pieces of the shattered crystal all around her. She looked stricken, and her beautiful face was very pale. She didn't look at any of them, just stared straight ahead of her, eyes flickering over nothing as she gripped her necklace in white knuckles. Nikki had not moved but she suddenly didn't look as if she felt quite as safe in her position between Rowen and Cye.

Then suddenly someone began to clap loudly. Damian lounged on the throne up on the dais, one leg draped over the arm, slowly clapping his hands, a mock serious expression on his face.

"Very very nice performance! Impressive! A little on the melodramatic side, but I think worthy of at least a standing ovation." With that Damian raised one hand negligently and flicked his fingers. An invisible force seized each of the Ronins and squeezed around them, lifting them up bound tightly into the air. Then Damian started to draw designs in the air with one finger. In response the force holding the Ronins captive twisted and bent, molding the helpless figure in the air to mimic his drawings. Ryo was bent backwards painfully and tumbled in the air as Damian traced a circle with one long nail.

"Stop it!" Nikki shrieked, but Damian only smirked at her. Mia rose up and turned to him.

"Drop them, now," Mia ordered quietly. Damian lifted one sculpted eyebrow at her, then oddly enough conceded to her demand. All five figures instantly dropped like stones back onto the ground, crunching heavily. As they lay moaning on the floor, Damian lifted himself up sinuously from the throne and moved towards her. Mia stood her ground as the creature reached her, holding her chin up as he circled her, one long sharp fingernail trailing over her shoulder. He chuckled low in his throat and his countenance shifted and changed. His shoulders broadened and he seemed to grow taller, his muscled frame towering over hers. His flesh darkened to a more natural color but his eyes remained a deep glittery black, and he licked his tongue across teeth too numerous and too sharp.

"Someone's getting demanding," Damian murmured, pausing behind her and brushing his lips up the side of her neck. "It's too bad you don't have the strength to back it up."

"You have no idea how much strength I have," Mia said coolly. Behind her Nikki had shifted forward, her eyes gauging the distance between herself and Damian. Then Nikki leaned down and picked up a sharp shard of broken crystal. With a cry she threw herself at Damian's back. He turned irritably and flicked his fingers again, this time sending Nikki flying back. She hit the ground heavily with a cry, sliding several feet to finally end stretched out on her side.

"Nikki!" Rowen cried, shoving to his feet, but her eyes met his and she almost imperceptibly shook her head. She scooted over to the right, grunting in very real pain as she did. Rowen's eyes flickered over her and then widened in understanding. Rowen jumped forward and moved his heavily armored body in between Nikki and where Damian stood with Mia, blocking her from their view. Then he swayed, still weak from blood loss. Rowen reached for an arrow and drew, aiming down the shaft at Damian, but didn't loosen. Damian was right in front of Mia, and if he moved at all the arrow would slam into Mia's unprotected body. Rowen didn't know what to think about Mia right now, but that was to be figured out later. Right now he had people to protect.

"Get away from her!" Rowen roared. Damian however ignored Rowen completely, his focus still on the red head in front of him. The other Ronins had found their feet and were circling out, surrounding the pair. Damian closed his eyes for just a moment, and the room became several degrees warmer. Then without warning that invisible energy slammed into them, throwing them all back. Ryo and Rowen were knocked together, and fell in one tangled heap.

"I was almost impressed, lover," Damian murmured into Mia's hair. "I knew you were up to something, and I even knew about the seal, but I never expected you to sacrifice the little blind one. Most humans aren't that heartless. But you…you are different." He snapped his teeth by her ear and she flinched, but only slightly. At this point Rowen and Ryo had managed to untangle and were finding their feet, bending torn and bruised muscles gingerly.

"You always were overly sure of yourself," Mia replied, a biting tone in her voice. "And too easily amused. Distraction was always your weakness, Damian."

"You mean how my other sweeting is desperately trying to find the other seal when she thinks all my attention is on you? Do you really find me so shallow?" The comment made Rowen's blood run cold and he cried out, jumping towards Nikki. Ryo had done the same thing, and both men managed to get in front of her just as Damian turned around and lifted both hands, creating a ball of bright red liquid in front of him. Damian hefted the ball once, like a ball player, then with a grin hurled it at them. Both Ryo and Rowen threw up protect barriers of light around themselves and Nikki but the fiery red liquid rolled down the barriers, dripping like melted candy, until it completely covered them. Then like a strong acid, it began to bubble and pop, burning away at the barriers. Cye jumped forward and held his yari out. Energy filled him, and he could hear the pounding of the waves in his ears, could feel the power of the ocean not too far from where they stood, could isolate every single patch of condensation that built up on the stone walls, and knew every droplet of sweat that clung to his comrades' faces. The energy reached a peak, and just as he raised his yari, Cye knew without a doubt that Nikki was terrified and trying desperately to find their salvation in the hole the energy barriers provided.

"Super Wave Smasher!" Cye cried, aiming the attack at the red liquid burning inexorably towards his friends. Water slammed out of his weapon and into the red acid. It hissed and screamed, writhing and bubbling like a living thing, and heavy black smoke rose into the air.

"Don't breathe it! It's an acid cloud!" Sage yelled, his face guard coming down. Kento and Cye followed suit, with Cye never lessening his attack. The smoke continued to rise, growing blacker as more red liquid reacted with the water. Finally the red liquid turned a dull orange color and gave one last bubble, before slowly sliding away from the significantly weakened barriers. Ryo and Rowen were both breathing heavily and Rowen looked a bit wild-eyed when they dropped the barriers.

"Shit!" Rowen breathed. Ryo had raised his head and met eyes with Mia for one long moment. Something unspoken passed between them. Ryo looked down, taking a deep breath, then he leaned towards Rowen and braced his bad arm against Rowen's armored shoulder. Ryo rested his hand gently on his arm, let out a long soft sigh, then wrenched his arm back into its socket. He gasped put on pain and staggered, tears coming to his eyes from the shock of it, but Rowen caught him and steadied him. When Ryo looked back up, his eyes had narrowed with that familiar look, and the specks of color in his blue eyes had started to spin as his armor's power built up in him. He drew both of his swords, gingerly with his injured arm, and held them up in front of him, his face drawn in cold determination.

"Enough of this!" Ryo snarled and jumped up into the air, spinning his swords above his head.

"No, Ryo!" Cye cried, "Mia's in the way!" But Wildfire seemed to ignore him, focusing intently on the creature before him. Damian turned to meet him with a grin of pleasure on his face as he braced himself.

"Ryo, NO!" Sage roared as both he and Kento leapt towards Mia and Damian. But they were too far away. Damian raised his hands and another ball of energy appeared, this one of such blackness that it matched his glittering eyes.

"Flare up NOW!!!"

Wildfire and blackness rushed to meet, crashing together, intertwining and tearing at each other. They twisted, spinning around and around until the black finally overcame the wildfire, and dark energy slammed forwards into Ryo. It tore into his armor, throwing him backwards, all the way across the room to slam into the wall. His body made a thick imprint into the stone, and Ryo's eyes rolled up into his head as he slid heavily to the floor.

"Ryo!" Rowen gasped, moving to help him. The force of the blast had hit at both Sage and Kento, throwing them to the sides, and Cye had gone down on one knee protectively. Damian started to laugh, giggling as he looked at the battered and exhausted warriors. Then he looked at Nikki, his eyes gleaming in amusement. Damian raised his hand once more, but hesitated when instead of fear he saw triumph in her eyes. Nikki sat up, pulling her hand from the hole, and lifting something up to show him. It was her middle finger. Damian snarled and jerked towards Mia. By the time he had spun around a small flat midnight blue disk had been pressed against his abdomen. In Mia's other hand she held the broken off spearhead Kento had been carrying. This time she was the one who grinned.

"This is for Cassie, you son of a bitch." Mia drove the spearhead right through the center of the disk. The look of rage on Damian's face was terrible, but almost as terrible was the grim determination on Mia's.

"This is for my friends," Mia snarled, shoving the spearhead in deeper. Her face leaned in towards Damian's and her lips curled back. She shoved the spear in one last time all the way to its end, twisting it viciously as she did. "And _that's_ for me. One of these things might not hold you, but two sure as hell will. I'm finishing what Kayura started."

Damian roared in fury and he tried to throw himself back, but once more found himself paralyzed. This time instead of white light it was dark blue, like the night sky, but it enveloped them the same way, gathering and twirling around them. Unlike Cassie, Mia never even tried to jerk her hand away, only held onto the disk and the spear, pressing them into the creature in front of her. There was an empty look in her eyes, devoid of anything but sheer determination to kill the thing before her. She seemed to not even realize it when the first cut appeared on her cheek.

"That's what it means!" Rowen gasped, just as Nikki went flying past him, throwing herself on Mia. Her hands grasped Mia's and she pulled at her with all her strength.

"Nikki, don't!" Mia snapped. "Get back!" She tried to shoulder Nikki off but couldn't move that far. The light had picked up speed and another cut appeared on her other cheek.

"Mia, please, don't do this!" Nikki cried, desperately pulling at her.

"It's too late, Nik," Mia said between gritted teeth. Another slash appeared, this time on her forehead. "Get back!"

But Nikki had never been good at following orders. She continued to try to free Mia. The light expanded to envelope her as well, and Nikki gasped as the first cut appeared on her arm, causing blood to well up. It was like being sliced with a razorblade. You didn't feel it until it had already finished cutting through your skin. Another one immediately joined it and Nikki whimpered. She clutched at Mia's wrists, blood running down her arm to mix with that from slices on Mia's hands. Then blue-armored arms wrapped around Nikki's waist and someone was trying to pull her away from Mia and Damian.

"Rowen, get back! Get back, damn it!" Nikki cried, but Rowen only gritted his teeth and tried to pull her even harder. Nikki cried out as metal crushed into her ribs, and Rowen loosen his grip. A snarl tore from Damian's throat, and he threw his head back, but there was nothing he could do to free himself.

"Rowen, go!" Mia managed through lips that were bloody and almost immobile. "You do this and we lose everything we fought for!"

"What the hell are we fighting for if we lose both of you as well?" Rowen growled. "I'm not going anywhere." Rowen did something very dangerous then. Realizing that he couldn't pull Nikki or Mia away without hurting either one of them, he released his armor. Clad only in his street clothes and still pale and weak from blood loss, Rowen wrapped an arm around both Mia and Nikki's waists, braced his feet and pulled with all his strength. It wasn't enough and as the light expanded once more to take Rowen in as well, slices started to appear in his flesh.

Cuts crisscrossed Mia's face, and blood was soaking her clothing. She couldn't move but there was a spark of fear in her eyes, and of desperation when another pair of bare arms wrapped around her and a blonde head bent down close to hers.

"Hold on Mia," Sage whispered, hands closing over hers. "We're here. You're not going through this alone." The first cut appeared on his skin and a single tear managed to squeeze from her eyelids, now held frozen in place. Sage tried to focus healing into the bloody girl next to him, but something interrupted him. The light that swirled around them was pulling at him.

"Rowen, what the hell is this stuff?" Sage gritted, and Rowen shook his head, his own arms now bloody as he held onto the girls.

"I don't know, but it's…pulling at me. It's taking my strength away. I can barely move!" Rowen replied painfully. Then Kento and Cye were there, extra arms going for Mia and Nikki, bodies straining to free them as the image of Cassie being torn to pieces stood out in their minds. Both Mia and Nikki had become bloody messes, and Rowen was almost as bad. But he held on. They all held on.

"Is this Damian?" Kento shouted over the roar of the ever increasing wind. "Is he doing this?"

"No! I think it's the seal itself!" Cye yelled back. "Nikki said that it takes energy to move between one realm and the next. If that's true then the seal needs energy to send him back! It's taking energy from Mia to do it!"

"It's taking energy from us all!" Sage said, wincing as another slice crossed his face.

"Then pray we have enough it doesn't kill us," Ryo suddenly said, his black hair falling messily in his face as he pressed his own hands directly against the seal. His voice was full of grim determination as he looked at his comrades. "Cause if one of us goes, we all go. I'm not losing another person I love to get rid of this piece of shit."

At the touch of his hands, the seal surged, almost jumping, and the spinning light reached a fever pitch. Slice after slice the light cut into them, pulling at them, taking from them. It hurt. Worse than anything they had ever experienced. It was like being caught in a paper shredder with no way out. Finally, just when they thought they couldn't handle any more, when their skin had pulled so tight it seemed it had to rip right off, when they had almost given up the last bit of hope that they would survive, another roar sounded in their ears. Where he had been all this time they didn't know, and what he had been through they didn't know either, for no Ronin was able to see the wounds all over White Blaze's body. All they heard was the roar, then they saw a blur of white as the powerful feline body sprang over them. White Blaze snarled one last time before his great jaws closed viciously over Damian's throat. The creature's eyes snapped open wider and his mouth sagged in frozen shock. The smell of sulfur burned their lungs, and heat blistered their skin painfully. Then the light folded, pulling in the creature that had twice terrorized them, and with him went White Blaze, his jaws deadlocked on Damian's throat.

"NO BLAZE!" Ryo managed to scream but it was too late. The light folded tighter, sucking Damian and White Blaze in until nothing was left. They were gone. The light stopped spinning and Mia's head snapped backwards, her face covered with blood. Her body seemed to sigh, as if in great relief. The light expanded and contracted around them, once, twice, three times, then shattered like broken glass. The force of it threw them all back, and for the final time the five Ronins hit the ground heavily, this time without the benefit of their armors. The walls of the room shook, and the entire building seemed to lurch and sway as the shockwave rippled out and into the destroyed city. The ground was beginning to vibrate beneath them as the Ronins attempted to regain their senses. Ryo pushed himself up off of his stomach, his arms sticky and burning from his multitudes of wounds.

Blood was everywhere. Once more it covered the floor and the walls, and there were bits of torn clothing that lay soaking on the crimson stained ground. Ryo looked at the spot that they had been thrown from, and saw only Nikki's dark haired form lying limply on her side. With a cry Ryo jumped to his feet, casting around desperately, terrified the worst had happened. In the spot where Mia had been there was nothing.

"Oh no…" Ryo whispered in horror. That's when he heard Cye's voice behind him, thick with fear.

"No, Mia! Don't you do this!" Cye cried. Ryo spun around and saw Cye behind him, bent over a slim figure before him. Cye was in bad shape, but Ryo almost didn't recognize Mia, she was so cut up. Her eyes were closed. She also wasn't breathing.

"Don't you dare, Mia!" Cye yelled, leaning over and opening her lips, placing his mouth over hers and breathing deeply into her mouth. He breathed in again then placed his ear against her chest. "Sage, help me, I'm losing her!"

The blonde man struggled to Cye's side and pressed his fingers against Mia's throat. Then he tipped her head back and repeated Cye's actions, covering her mouth was his and forcing air into her lungs.

"Heal her, Sage!" Kento urged but Sage shook his head angrily.

"Sage can't make her heart start beating or get her to breathe again, Kento," Cye said in a sick tone, sitting back on his heels and wiping blood out of his eyes. "Not like that. She needs to be breathing for him to be able to help her."

"Don't you leave us, baby," Sage growled, pressing down against her chest rhythmically. "I haven't got a chance to yell at you yet." Ryo stood by helplessly, not able to do anything. Across from him Kento did the same, his torn face bleak as he watched the scene in front of him. Rowen had managed to crawl to Nikki's side and had pulled her into his arms. She was in bad shape, but not as bad as Mia. Nikki was sliced up and was bleeding too much, but she was breathing steadily. She passed in and out of consciousness as Rowen tore off his shirt and pressed it against the worst of her cuts. He seemed oblivious to his own wounds, even the hunk taken out of his neck. Instead he held her tightly and pressed his face into the curve of her neck, whispering quietly.

"Damn it, Mia!" Sage yelled, pushing down on her chest more forcefully and returning to breathe for her. He had fallen back on his heels and Cye had moved to take his place when Mia suddenly coughed, blood coming out of her mouth. Cye turned her over, holding her as she coughed a distressing amount of blood onto the floor. Kento couldn't stand it anymore and had fallen to his knees next to her, pulling her hair to the side.

"Sage, she's dying. She's breathing now, so heal her damn it!" Sage looked at Hardrock unhappily.

"Her lungs are full of blood, Kento. I can try, but she might still choke to death even if the rest of her body is healed."

"Please, Sage," Kento whispered as Mia coughed up even more blood.

"Lay her down on her side, and try to keep her face turned down. Then step back," Sage ordered. "And no one touch her," he added. Kento and Cye eased her down, and the ground gave a lurch. There was a crash, sounding like stones falling down. Kento looked around worriedly.

"This place is tearing itself apart," he said. "We have to get out of here soon."

Rowen had picked Nikki up and had carried her over to stand behind the others. He said nothing, watching the scene in front of him. Rowen knew Sage was exhausted, past exhausted. He didn't know if Sage was capable of something like this. Rowen worried that he would try too hard, would throw too much of himself into trying to heal her, and in the end would end up as bad as Mia. But Rowen also knew Sage, knew the look on his face, and knew instinctively that in Sage's mind too many people had died already. No matter what Mia had or hadn't done, Sage would die trying to save her. That's what made him Sage. Halo leaned forward, a green light surrounding both him and Mia. Rowen held his breath. It was weird watching Sage heal someone without his armor on, but Rowen knew Sage's power came from within, and that he was just as powerful without Halo as he was with it. That fact gave him some hope as he watched silently.

The green glow brightened as Sage threw more of himself into healing Mia. Her face and arm wounds closed and knitted in front of their eyes, but they knew that wasn't enough. She had been torn inside as well. They couldn't tell if he was helping her any, and finally Sage swayed. The green light flickered and died out as Sage's eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out. Ryo managed to catch him before he hit the ground, and Cye lifted Mia up, turning her back over. He waited, then squeezed her ribs. He squeezed again. Finally on the third squeeze she coughed heavily, blood once more pouring out of her mouth. Mia coughed and hacked, alternately spitting up and throwing up blood until finally nothing more came from her lungs and stomach. Then she collapsed into Cye, crying weakly.

"I think she's out of the danger zone, but is Sage okay?" Cye asked worriedly. Ryo nodded.

"He's just exhausted," Ryo reassured Torrent. "He put everything he had into healing her. It was too much for him, but his heart is still beating strong." Another earthquake went shook the ground beneath them. "We have to get out of here, guys," he added. Ryo looked around at his comrades. They were in bad shape, torn and bleeding and battered. But they were still here and able to walk, and that meant they had a chance of getting out of here.

There was a crash, and one of the walls groaned, buckling in. Stone tumbled down, throwing dust up into the air.

"We don't even know where we are!" Rowen yelled above the noise. "We go back through this place, it's liable to come crashing down on top of us! We need a better option!"

"Everybody get to the middle of the room!" Kento suddenly shouted. "And once you're there, don't move!"

"What's your plan, Kento?" Cye asked, ducking his head away from a tumbling stone. Kento grimaced.

"Just get in the middle and hold on."

They did as he said, with Cye carrying Mia and Rowen still holding Nikki. Ryo hefted Sage over his good shoulder but hesitated, his eyes lingering on the place where White Blaze had disappeared.

"Ryo…we have to go," Rowen said gently. Ryo remained staring at the spot then shook himself, forcing his eyes away. He moved to join the others where they were waiting. Nikki had regained consciousness and had wrapped one bloody arm around Rowen's neck. He didn't seem to mind. The ground rocked and tilted again, causing them to stagger to retain their balance. Kento moved to stand in front of them and he closed his eyes. As it had before, pressure seemed to build in the room.

"Hold on," Rowen muttered to the others. "He's not too good at this stuff." Cye rolled his eyes at Rowen and Ryo let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He raised his eyebrow at Rowen. Strata had the decency to flush, but shook his head.

"What? He's not."

"I heard that, Rowen," Kento grunted. Beads of sweat lined his forehead, but he opened his eyes to give Rowen a dirty look. Rowen just shrugged and grinned at his friend. Hardrock continued to focus, the room becoming increasingly uncomfortable, then Kento raised his arms sharply. The pressure that had built up in the room seemed to explode outwards. They hadn't known exactly what to expect. Having the entire roof ripped off the building by flying boulders wouldn't have been too hard to imagine, Kento was the warrior of Hardrock after all. But no one saw it coming when the walls around them burst out as well, slamming into the next set of walls, and then the next , and then the next, all the way to the edges of the building. The edges of the building burst out too, until there was nothing left of the building but a huge pile of rabble and a ton of dust.

"Shit, Kento!" Rowen yelped from where he knelt protectively over Nikki. "Warn us, okay? Just once, warn us!"

"I'm ready to be out of here," Kento said calmly, shrugging his broad shoulders. They looked around at the huge cave, then were thrown to the ground as an even larger earthquake rumbled. A crack appeared on one end of the cave and split the ground, racing its way across the cave floor. Huge stones were falling from the ceiling, shattering into car sized boulders when they hit.

"That was our way out," Ryo shouted, pointing at the widening crack that had effectively cut them off. "Where do we go now?"

"Up."

Rowen stared at Kento in disbelief.

"What the hell did you just say?" Rowen demanded. "Up?!"

"Consider this your warning, Rowen," Kento said with a perfectly flat face. His eyes moved over his companions, have torn and bleeding, the others even worse. "We have to get out of here, and up's the only good option."

Kento closed his eyes once more, his jaw set in determination. Pressure began to build and Rowen shuddered.

"We couldn't have a nice sane Hardrock, could we? No, we had to have _him_."

"He's saving our ass," Ryo reminded him.

"Or else we're all going to get the biggest headache of our lives when he smashes us into that thing." Rowen pointed upwards, but they ignored him. Ryo's eyes still drifted to the spot that White Blaze had disappeared, and his heart twisted painfully in his chest. Get them out of here, he told himself. Then he'd grieve for the loss of his best friend. But get them out first.

Kento took a step closer to them, and the ground beneath their feet cracked and split into a large circle. The circle rose into the air, spinning slowly as large rocks rose with it. They built up momentum as they rose, until they raced upwards towards the ceiling of the cave. Instinctively they threw themselves down as the sheet of rock came hurtling at them.

"Oh SHIT Kento!" Rowen yelled just before they hit with a stupendous force. But instead of slamming into sheetrock, they kept on going upwards, the earth tearing itself apart before their passage. The circle of rock shook and cracked beneath them, and seemed like it was going to shatter any second. Then the ground above them burst out into bright daylight, and they were sailing through the sky. Without the stone circle beneath them. Flying through the air and heading for the grassy slope beneath them, nothing to cushion their fall. Rowen decided to take matters in his own hands.

Rowen didn't know how he did it, he certainly never had tried before, but something inside of him surged and the air around him became heavier. They slowed their descent, until they landed with a soft bounce on the grass. At which point Rowen turned and gave Kento a dirty look.

"Hey I said I'd get us out," Kento stated. "I never said what would happen once we _got_ out."

A huge roar warned them just in time and they leapt back, dragging their injured friends with them as the ground before them completely caved in, burying the underground city and the chamber that had held it. They stood at the edge of the cave in, staring down at the crater that had replaced it. Then they took a deep breath. It was finally over.

-----

The cave mouth behind the statue shuddered and twisted, then crashed down. Dust and debris flew every direction, and when the air finally cleared, the cave had completely collapsed in, sealing itself off. No one could get in there again without major excavating, if they could get in at all. The statue remained silent and unmoving, but a small smile had touched its lips.


	19. Epilogue

**Courting The Jester**

Epilogue

Rowen lay on the small hard guest bed that he had spent so many nights on, arms crossed beneath his head as he stared at the ceiling. He knew every bump and speck of dust, every mark and mistake, but knowing everything about this room didn't make this room his. It just meant he was allowed to stay there for a while. Rowen couldn't help but connect the feeling to the rest of his life. He heard a soft sigh and turned his head. Sage lay in the bed across the room, looking pale and tired as he too stared at the ceiling. The cuts that had torn them all up were gone now. Sage had insisted on healing them all after he had regained consciousness and enough strength. They had told him no, but Sage had forced the issue. Rowen secretly thought that the healing was not so much from Sage's concern for them, but from him not wanting to see them walk around with wounds so similar to those that had killed Cassie.

Cassie. Rowen could remember her now, with only a general haziness surrounding the memory. He hadn't known her as well as he could have, having spent most of his time focused on Nikki when Cassie was around, but there were still images and sounds and smells that floated through his mind when he thought of her. He remembered her quiet laugh, always teasing him as if she knew something he didn't. He remembered how angry she would get when one of them got hurt, as if she took the injury personally. He remembered that she smelled like flowers and old books, a bizarre combination but not unpleasant. He remembered that she cared for two of his friends very very much.

They had been at a standstill, neither Sage nor Cye making a move, with Cassie never treating one with more kindness or care than the other. Rowen hadn't known if she had been in love with either one of his friends, but his instincts told him that her heart had belonged to Cye. She had been fascinated with Sage, a brightness that illuminated her darkened life, but it was Cye's name on her lips when she died. He might be wrong. Rowen had never understood what had been between those three, none of them had. Not even Cye and Sage seemed to understand completely. It was too late to figure it out now.

Sage sighed again and shifted beneath his blanket.

"You okay, Seiji?" Rowen asked, knowing that Sage wasn't okay, that he wouldn't be okay for a very long time, and that Sage would now lie to him because that was the only thing he could do without pouring his broken heart out. The use of his Japanese name was Rowen's way of telling Sage that he knew all this, and that he was worried, and that he cared.

"Yeah. I'm fine, Touma." Sage knew he knew. And he appreciated it. Sometimes guys said more in their few words than anyone ever realized.

"Do you think _he's_ gone for good?" Sage asked Rowen after a while. Damian's name hadn't crossed anyone's lips in the day and a half since they had returned. Anytime he was brought up it was with the same general pronoun that Mia had used. They understood that now. No one really wanted to talk about him, and using his name made him seem even more real. No one wanted Damian to be anything more than a nightmare that they had finally woken up from.

Awakening. That's what this felt like. The edginess in Rowen was gone, and that was not simply from the fact he had fought recently. The armors themselves had hated having their memories taken, and had tried to alert the Ronins that something had gone wrong. Now that his memories were back, Rowen was of mixed feelings about them. Yes, he felt like they needed to know what had happened. But at the same time, he also could understand why Mia would have wanted to take their memories away. They had lost their battles in a way so complete that it was like getting punched in the stomach. The sick dread he had felt when realizing that they were all going to die, and he might not even be able to get the girls to safety before they did, was still inside him. Sure, it had been dulled by time and the haziness that still hung around his memories, but he had felt it and that feeling was in there permanently. And they had lost someone close to them, someone that had no business being involved with them in the first place. Is that what Sage thought about when he closed his eyes? Or Cye? Did the guilt of losing Cassie cut at them the way it cut at him? Rowen thought about Nikki, and about if she had been the one, and his stomach went cold. The guilt must be tearing them apart, because if something had happened to Nikki, Rowen wasn't sure if he would be able to stand it.

"I think so," Rowen replied. "I talked to Mia about the seals some more. As far as I can tell, the original seal that had held back everything from _his_ realm was broken when this all started. The one that was used to send him back the first time never really stopped working. It just kept him from coming through all the way this time. It still let enough of him through that he was able to do that much damage, though. Mia thinks Kayura knew that the first seal wasn't working well enough and that's why she found the second seal. Mia thinks that she went to use it without knowing _he_ had already slipped part of himself back through. That she hid the second seal away, along with the memory crystal, hoping that we would find it. Or Mia would find it. I'm not sure exactly how all of that was supposed to work out. When we used the second seal it should have been enough to stop him from coming back through at all."

"Then what happened to Kayura? Do we have any idea? Did _he_ kill her?" Sage asked. Rowen shrugged, his mouth creasing into an unhappy frown.

"I don't know, Sage. Ryo tried to contact her late last night. Nothing happened. I really don't know where she is or if she's okay."

Sage nodded and fell silent. His violet eyes flickered over the ceiling and Rowen knew that Sage wasn't thinking about Damian or Kayura anymore. There was something in Sage's eyes now that had never been there before. When some people are hurt deeply, they close themselves off from others, nursing their wounds. But Sage was different; he had spent his entire life closed off from people. The wound in his heart showed in his eyes, and it was impossible for Rowen to look at his friend without thinking that Sage wasn't ever going to get over this. He was holding on to Cassie even tighter than he ever had. Rowen suddenly felt very tired and very sad for his friend, and he felt confused as to what to do now.

Rowen sat up in the bed and wrapped his arms around his knees. His mind drifted back to Nikki. Most of his confusion centered around her. True he had not liked her very much when he met her this time, and had spent most of his time arguing with her. He hadn't understood why he had always been so angry and harsh around her, but he got it now. The new Rowen didn't know what to think about Nikki, but the old Rowen had been very much in love with her. She had frustrated him just as much then, but along with the memory of anger came memories of gentle kisses, warm bodies pressing together, and of feeling that he had finally found someone that was his match. She was infinitely difficult but she understood him in a way no one else ever had before. She had broken his heart when she had pulled away from him, and he had never known why she had turned her back on him. Rowen had never let himself get too entangled with members of the opposite sex before her, because he had never found one that could keep up with him. But mentally and emotionally and physically Nikki was right there challenging him, and he had locked onto that like a starving man would food. Nikki completed him and even though his hurt from years before was just as strong as it had been, Rowen was ready to make peace with her. Time had passed, and Rowen found that as he watched Sage silently mourn Cassie, that he missed Nikki very very much.

Rowen rose and walked over to Sage's bed, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. He didn't say anything and he didn't have to as he squeezed once and moved away. Sage said nothing but the tension in his face eased slightly. Rowen went down to the room Nikki had stayed in the night before. He knocked lightly, and after no answer, Rowen poked his head inside the door. There was no one there. Rowen turned and checked Mia's room. It was empty as well. He wandered the house until he finally found Mia sitting in the small bay window off the living room, her knees pulled tightly up to her chest as she looked out at the lake behind her house. Her eyes looked sad and lost and she fingered the small silver necklace that she always wore. Thinking back about it, Rowen couldn't think of a time since any of this started that she hadn't worn that necklace. Seeing her sparked feelings of resentment and anger, but Rowen pushed them down. They needed healing between them all now, not more harsh feelings. His brain understood what had happened and their reasons for their actions, well most of them anyway, but his heart hadn't had a time to catch up. He carefully schooled his voice into a non-threatening and blameless tone.

"Mia, do you know where Nikki is? I need…_we_ need to talk. To work some stuff out. Do you know where I can find her?"

Mia turned to Rowen and she gave him a sympathetic look. Her one hand tightened down on a mug sitting next to her.

"I'm sorry, Rowen," Mia said gently. "Nikki left this morning. She called a cab and caught an early flight back to the States. She should already have taken off, about an hour ago."

Rowen stood there silently. Then something dark passed over his expression and he turned away wordlessly. Mia heard the slam of the back door and saw a blue haired form crossing the yard towards the dock. He kicked at one of the dock posts, sending a crack down the thick wood, and then he bent his head over and rested his forehead against the post. At that point Mia silently looked away, giving Rowen his moment. She had known this would hurt him. Nikki had known that too, but as was true to her nature, Nikki had bolted as soon as she could. In a way Mia couldn't blame her. Out of all of them, Mia was the only one who knew how much Nikki had cared about Rowen before everything became so messed up. Nikki thought things were beyond fixing, and that it would be better for everyone if they didn't drag things out too much. So she had left before her and Rowen had had a chance to fight things out. Personally Mia believed that Nikki just didn't want to face Rowen's anger and disappointment, and didn't want to see him turn his back on her. Mia understood that, and didn't blame her for it either.

Mia stayed curled up in her window for a long time. Her body was still very sore and she was tired, but she had spent enough nights in her bed trying to face the solitude. This time she wanted space around her and the sunlight in her eyes. She raised her mug to her lips and took a sip. A mixture of coffee and brandy. Harsh to be sure, but Mia felt like she needed both right now to calm her nerves.

They all found her one by one to say goodbye. She had known they would. This house had too many memories good and bad for them, especially since they were all fighting to understand the heap of emotions that had been dropped in their laps. To their credits, no one had been unkind to her. They just looked at her, eyes flickering as they tried to understand. Mia wasn't sure if they ever would. To many times she had turned her back on them, and had not trusted them. To them that was worse than any collaboration with the enemy. They had held her as part of the team, but Mia was pretty sure she was out of that now. But only time would tell, it was really up to them.

Rowen had left first, his handsome face dark and distracted. He wasn't dealing with Nikki leaving without saying goodbye very well. He had grunted to Mia that he would see her later, had grabbed his jacket and had left without any other words. Sage had shown up not too long after Rowen, his violet eyes haunted and his face drawn. He had paused in the doorway a long moment before moving towards her. He had many conflicting feelings, she knew, especially since she was the one that had personally kept him from trying to save Cassie. Sage had said nothing, had only leaned over and kissed her softly on the top of the head. She had looked up at him with glistening eyes, but he only turned and left, unconsciously following his best friend. Cye had appeared not to long afterwards, and he looked slightly better than Sage, if only slightly. His skin was damp, and Mia knew that he had spent most of the last day and night in the water, trying to center himself. Cassie was in his eyes as well, but where Sage was haunted, Cye seemed sad, as if he had missed out on something he would always regret. Cye had given her a gentle hug, and had not spoken either except to tell her he would see her soon. No one had brought up what had happened, and for that Mia was infinitely thankful.

Mia held her necklace and her mug tightly, waiting for who she knew would come next. She felt his eyes on her as he entered the room, and as he moved over to sit next to her on the window. Ryo took her mug and sniffed at it, taking a small sip. He made a face.

"Ugh. That's nasty, Mia." Mia just shrugged, smiling slightly at him.

"Everyone's taking off," Ryo said. Mia nodded, looking back out the window. Ryo reached over and took her chin in his hand, gently turning her face back towards him.

"No words?" he asked. Mia looked down at her lap.

"What's there to say?" Mia asked. "Now you guys know everything, the bad guy is gone, and now you know how much we betrayed you. What can I possibly say? I'm so very sorry we hurt you, and I miss Cassie so much it makes me want to cry, but I don't take back any of it, and I would do it all again if I had to. I've had a long time to think about my decisions and I wouldn't change them. Is there anything beyond that you wanted to hear?"

Ryo leaned forward and brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"Just that you are okay. I'm very worried that you aren't okay. The Mia I knew isn't here." Ryo forced her to look up into his eyes. "I don't see her anymore. She's gone."

"She died, Ryo. Bit by bit, a long time ago in ways I never want to think about again. But you guys are still here, and are still alive, and that's all that matters. I'm not really that important." Mia gave him a brave smile. Ryo just shook his head.

"No, Mia. You're still in there some where; you're just too scared to trust yourself to come out. But you will, one day." Ryo stood up and kissed her the way Sage had.

"And you're wrong by the way," Ryo whispered. "Us being okay isn't all that matters. There's someone here that thinks you being okay matters more than anything else in the world." With that Ryo headed for the door.

"Ryo?" Mia called behind him as he reached the doorway. He turned around, curiously. "I'm really sorry about White Blaze." Her voice cracked as she said it and Ryo nodded sadly at her.

"I'll miss him, too," Ryo replied, without a hint of blame in his voice. "I'll see you later, Mia. Don't forget to call me this time. I really missed you when you were gone." Then he left. Mia wiped the tears out of her eyes and took a large gulp of her drink, knowing what was coming next. Who was coming next. Mia took another large gulp and steeled herself.

-----

The forest was quiet again. The animals that had been disturbed by the cave in had settled, and the birds had finally resumed their singing. There was a lighter feeling now, as if something bad had finally gone and the animals were once again at peace. A man moved quietly through the woods, his footsteps barely making a sound. He walked next to a grazing doe. She looked up at him with liquid brown eyes, trustingly allowing him to stroke his fingers against her fine coat as he passed by, quivering under his touch. Then she bounded off, not afraid, but on to greener fields. The man continued.

He finally found what he was looking for. He stopped and stood silently, his peaceful face darkening. He knelt down before the statue, which was now clothed in a glorious robe of shimmering stone. Her head remained bent, with her hair fanning out over her shoulders. Her hands were folded quietly in her lap, her beautiful face expressionless. He let his hand gently brush down the statues cheek and his voice was thick with emotion.

"We will find a way to rescue you," Cale whispered softly. "Kayura, _I_ will find a way to rescue you. I will not sleep until I do," he swore. The statue remained silent, the way statues do. Cale remained there for a long moment, then felt the pull of the others, telling him that he needed to return, they couldn't hold the barrier to the mortal realm open much longer.

"So weak we are without you," Cale murmured. He leaned forward and touched his lips to the statue's temple, then gracefully rose. He left the clearing quickly, without looking back. If he had, he might have seen the single stone teardrop now standing out on the statue's face, or that one of her hands had stretched out before her. The birds continued to whistle as the rest of the world moved on.

-----

Nikki took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. The man next to her had given up trying to talk to her, and had retreated to reading one of the provided magazines. He was eyeballing one of those new inflatable mattresses, and Nikki wondered if he had any idea that a creature of ultimate terror had almost been unleashed into their world. By the excited look in his eyes as he read the details of the inflatable mattress, he probably didn't. Lucky him. Nikki settled deeper into her seat and tried not to think about anything. That didn't work out too well. The problem with being relatively intelligent and a being a female meant that it could be very hard to shut her mind off. The only person she knew who had a harder time shutting off his head was Rowen. That guy wouldn't stop think and analyzing until the day he died.

Rowen. Nikki bet he was pissed. Rowen was a tough guy, but he hated being left behind. He hated when people walked away from him, whether it was just a conversation or someone he really cared about. He hated to be left, which was probably why Sage was his best friend. Whether anyone realized it or not, Sage was just as dependent as Rowen. Sage just hid it by being around a guy whose personality and dependency overwhelmed his own. Nikki told herself that Sage would get Rowen through everything, and that he would be okay. They would all be okay. Nikki hoped that if she repeated it enough times she would eventually believe it. Right now she thought she was full of shit. She had left them all messes, with only Mia to clean up after them. Nikki didn't think that Mia was going to try very hard. She was messed up far beyond any of the rest of them. Damian had tortured Nikki and Cassie, but he had done things to Mia's mind and body that Nikki couldn't even comprehend. Nikki had seen the look in Mia's eyes when she had activated the seal. Mia knew it was going to kill her, and Mia wanted it to kill her. She was ready for the lie to be over.

Lies. So many lies. Everything had twisted and turned until she wasn't sure she knew what was real and what wasn't anymore. Everything had become so complicated. She had to give the guys credit though, in the last day and a half they had attempted to be kind, if not understanding. Sage and Cye were torn up about Cassie, and Ryo was broken hearted to lose his tiger. Rowen looked lost, and confused. Kento seemed…withdrawn. He hadn't spoken to anyone after they had escaped the cave, silently accepting Sage's healing before he had moved off to be by himself. But they were all trying, which was more than Nikki felt like they deserved.

Cassie was dead. And Nikki and Mia had made sure she died. Nikki wondered if the guys had put that together. That Mia and her had known the seal would kill Cassie once she used it. They hadn't known that she would be the one, they all had believed that they would be the one to finally use it. But once Cassie had activated it, they had made sure that Cassie was the one that died. The old armors hadn't been as powerful as the ones the Ronins wore now, and had they tried to rescue Cassie, even with all of them, they most likely would have all died. Kayura had told Mia, Nikki and Cassie the seal would work, but also the terrible price they would have to pay. That they would have to get close enough to Damian to catch him off guard. It had taken almost a year to catch him off guard just once. And it happened to be a moment when Cassie held the seal. That was how the hand was dealt, and Nikki wouldn't lie and say she wished it had been her. Nikki didn't want to die, she never had. But she didn't want Rowen and the others to die even more, so she had done what she had to. And now she had bolted. That was her right, earned by month after month of horrors at Damian's hands. Now it was over, and she was gone. They could deal with the rest. She was done.

"_Are you really, little one?_"

Nikki started out of her seat, turning around. One of the passengers behind her looked at her curiously, but other than that everything was normal. Shaking her head in irritation, Nikki sat back down. Nothing was here. She was okay. She breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes.

That's when he began to hum. Nikki's eyes snapped open and she froze in her seat. He leaned forward and touched his mouth to her neck, still humming.

"_One two, waiting for you_…"

Nikki cried out softly in fright even as he grabbed her by the throat, pulling her out of her seat and into the isle.

_"Three four, open the door…"_

There was that same tearing noise, and a portal opened down the isle in the middle of the plane. Heat waved out of it, along with the stench of sulfur, and Nikki shrieked in terror, kicking and clawing at the thing holding her.

_"Five six, show you some tricks…"_

Damian dropped down to the ground and began to crawl backwards on all fours towards the portal, dragging her by her throat with him. Nikki grabbed at seats and people in terror, but he was too strong. One of Nikki's nails broke as her fingers scraped down the isle.

"No…" Nikki wept as they got closer to the opening. She could even hear the roar of the creatures waiting for them.

_"Seven eight, stand up straight…"_

Damian grabbed her by the hair and rose up to a standing position, dangling her as he stepped into the tear. Nikki shrieked one more time as she was drug in too, and the portal snapped shut.

_"Nine ten, do it again…"_

-----

She wasn't sure how long he had been standing there, but at some point Mia looked up and realized that Kento was in the room, leaning against the door jam, his arms crossed. Her heart skipped a beat and she looked away, then couldn't help looking back. His steady blue eyes were locked on her face and Mia blushed, looking away again. She brought the mug back up to her lips, wishing there was actually liquid in there for her to drink. She also wished that Kento would stop watching her like that, that he would turn around and walk away, letting her sink into some kind of beautiful ambiguity. But he seemed to have no such inclination, remaining where he was with those blue eyes and an expression on his face that she couldn't read.

"You're staring," Mia finally said, unable to stand the silence.

"…Yeah." It wasn't much of an answer, and the way his deep voice rumbled only served to unsettle her more. She didn't want to look at him, didn't want to face him, didn't want to see the disgust in his eyes. From anyone else she could take it, but not him. Mia forced herself to relax her expression into one of uncaring callousness. Like she didn't care at all.

"If you don't mind Kento, I'd like to be alone right now. I'm pretty tired." She was surprised she got it out without mumbling the words, but flinched at her tone. She hadn't meant to come off so…cold. Kento however didn't reply. Instead of leaving he straightened and moved farther into the room. She caught a scent of his spicy aftershave and with the smell rose up images unbidden in her mind. Images of being in his arms, of leaning against him for strength, of wanting to kiss him so badly…

Mia flushed and turned her face to the window, trying to ignore the man that had grabbed a chair and turned it, sitting in it backwards as he rested his chin on folded arms.

"What are you doing, Kento?" Mia asked, wincing again as her voice became harsh.

"Waiting for you to finally look at me. To finally admit that I'm here," he replied softly. Mia's heart lurched again, but she looked down at her knees.

"I know you're here Kento," she said. "You've been here all along."

"Yeah, Mia. _I have_." He stressed the last two words.

"Kento, what do you want?" Mia asked softly, unable to keep this up much longer. She wanted to burst into tears and throw herself into his arms, telling him how awful it all was, how much it hurt when she realized that it wasn't his arms she was in, but Damian's. That she had betrayed them all because she had let herself believe that they could be together, that her biggest weakness was how badly she wanted to be with him. That she loved his hair and his eyes and his shoulders and the way that he always waited, letting her be what she needed to be, caring about her for the person she truly was. But now she was only a shell, that she had lost so much of herself, and that she was dirty and no matter how long ago everything had happened, she still felt dirty. That she had lied to him, lied to his face, using the fact that he trusted her implicitly and leading him and his friends around by the nose until she got the chance to play her hand. That she didn't deserve him, and she was ashamed every time he looked at her with those big blue eyes, and it broke her heart. That she was in love with him and had said nothing for years because she couldn't…she wasn't….

Mia wilted inside, and her shoulders slumped. Her hand reached up and clutched her necklace like a lifeline. Kento scooted his chair closer, reaching out and taking her mug out of her hands. He put one large rough hand on her leg and gently tugged at her, pulling her so that she was facing him. Their legs touched at the knees, the low wood back of the chair the only thing separating them. Kento's hand remained on her leg, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on the scratchy jean fabric. He ached to touch her, to hold her, and it showed in his eyes. But Mia's eyes were on her lap, and she didn't see.

"Mia…" Kento started, then cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I just wanted to say that…"

"What?" she asked, waiting for the worst. Waiting to hear him condemn her.

"That I was scared to death when you activated that seal. That I thought you were going to die. I saw your hand shove in the spearhead...Even now, after it's all over, it still has me shook up. You stopped breathing and I lost it. That's the only reason I was able to get us out of there. I saw you lying there and I was so angry and scared, I threw everything I had into it. That's the reason I was able to tear us out of that place." This time Kento looked down and Mia looked up. She reached her hand out to touch him, then let it drop. There was so much she wanted to say. So much she couldn't say. Finally she murmured,

"I'm sorry I worried you."

It was lame and sounded disconnected. Kento actually flinched. But gamely he tried again, moving his hand to rest on her knee.

"We all…none of us blame you, you know? We're still trying to understand, and a lot of stuff is still really fuzzy, but we want to understand. We don't want to have our group torn apart anymore than it already is." Mia's head snapped up.

"You don't remember everything?" she asked quickly. Too quickly. This time when he flinched it was inwardly where she couldn't see. There was a spark of hope in her eyes, a spark that he misunderstood. Kento let his hand slide off of her leg to hang by his side, trying to hide his disappointment. He tried to tell himself that he'd been hiding his feelings for this long, he might as well play along. It was what she wanted, and damn it, but he could never stop himself from doing everything he could to give her what she wanted. Kento plastered on a stupid rueful grin, scratching his head.

"Naw. There's lots of stuff I don't remember. Just vague outlines, most of it centered around the battles."

Mia smiled in stark relief, sealing the lie. Kento's heart sank. Her hand went up to the necklace she wore at her throat, a silver chain with tiny emerald chips set in a heart shape, held together by a silver shell. Kento gave a small smile, not being able to help himself.

"This is beautiful," he said touching her necklace. Their fingers brushed together once before Mia let her hand drop down. She didn't say anything. Kento let the stone fall and he moved back.

"It reminds me of you," he said softly, standing up. He stared at her for a long silent minute then gave her a weak smile. "I'll see you later, Mia," he said softly.

Mia nodded, not trusting herself to speak as the broad shouldered man turned around and walked away. Then she crushed the necklace in her grip, tears welling in her eyes.

"That's what you said when you gave it to me, Kento," she whispered brokenheartedly. Tears ran down her face as the front door closed shut, then she shook herself. She dropped her necklace, wiping at her face with the backs of her hands. She went upstairs to her room and went to the closet. There was a suitcase there and clean clothes in the dresser. She had only been gone less than a week. No one would have missed her by now and she had a job still waiting for her. She had sworn a long time ago that she would always do her part to help the Ronin Warriors. But she could do her part just as well far away from here. Taking a deep breath and forcing everything out of her head as much as she could, Mia picked up the suitcase.

-----

Nikki screamed and something grabbed her shoulder, shaking her.

"Ma'am! Ma'am! Are you okay?!"

Nikki's eyes flew open and she jerked away violently, throwing her hands up protectively. The man next to her in the plane was staring at her and a flight attendant hovered overhead, both with concerned expressions.

"Ma'am?" the attendant said. "You were having a nightmare and started screaming. Are you alright?" Nikki stared at them in wide-eyed shock. She looked around. No one was there except for the normal passengers, all of which seemed to be staring at her right now. There was no portal. There was no Damian. There was only her. Nikki took several short hard breathes, then managed to nod her head. The guy next to her leaned over and gave her a sympathetic look.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her. Nikki looked out the window, away from the staring eyes and out at the ocean glistening blue beneath her. The ocean that and the plane that were taking her far away from Japan.

"Yes, I'm okay," Nikki whispered. Then she added almost inaudibly, "Or at least I will be." She took another deep breath and rested her head against the window. The plane engine rumbled as she watched the wings soar through the sky, wings that were finally taking her home.

The End

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Wow. I finally finished this beast. It took a little over seven months, which I don't think is terribly long for a fic of this length. I would like to thank everyone for being so very supportive along the way, and a double thanks to everyone who reviewed. As I said from the beginning, any criticism is welcomed. Good and bad, it makes me a better writer. After Ch16 being so long, it seems odd to have an epilogue of this length, and I know there's a lot of questions still unanswered. But I did that for two reasons. First, I put a lot of information in this fic that probably didn't make much sense as you read it the first time, but that is important and gives more info on what happened. Knowing this might get some of you guys with too much time on your hands to go back and reread BTL and CTJ…I know, wishful thinking. Lol! The second reason for not answering all the questions is that I am planning to write more about these characters. So if I tell you everything I have to tell, then what's the fun of that?

One last thing I wanted to do was thank some specific people for being extra supportive, and making sure this fic was finished: Ghost of the Dawn for pushing and pulling and telling me when I sucked and patting me on the head when I did good. (She kept me writing more often than she knows.) Teahleafs for being such a great cheerleader, and sticking with my fics from the very beginning. (huggles) And Anliya for giving me good fics to read when I didn't want to write, always being a sweetie, and definitely inspiring me. (You did! I retreat to your stuff when I don't want to deal with my own.) Thanks a bunch you guys. Yeah! I'm done with my fic! Lol. Later everyone.

-em


End file.
